Embodiment of Flame
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: Fire. It's an amazing thing. It burns. It warms. It can end lives if not controlled or save them when properly tended. Watch and see how a man who embodies it can change everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

 **Greetings to all! This is Embodiment of Flame, a new story that has been brewing in my head due to...various reasons. If you do not mind I would rather leave it at that. Now, this is a crossover story, mainly Fairy Tail with Rave Master and a couple others in minor capacity, and starring Natsu with a few somewhat major alterations to some of the story. As you may have predicted, it will be a harem story, as if I would do anything less. I cannot really think of anything else to add so I would like to thank my secondary author, Bakuto Masaki, as usual, for his help with the story. Without further adieu, let us begin!**

* * *

Two small figures, one with pink hair and one with dark red hair, slowly made their way to a massive building with a complex marking above the large front door.

"We're here," the pink-haired figure said happily, the red-haired one nodding happily as they walked up.

"We did, Natsu."

* * *

"Natsu!" a voice exclaimed.

A lean, muscular young man with a slightly tanned skin tone, dark brown eyes, spiky pink hair, a stamp just below his left shoulder in red, who wore a sleeveless, gold-trimmed, black waistcoat, left open and untucked, exposing his bare torso, white, knee-length trousers, a thick black wristband on his left wrist, black open-toed sandals, and a scale-patterned scarf around his neck, along with bandages around his left arm, jolted awake as a small, anthropomorphic, blue cat with wings on its back floated in front of him shouting.

The pink-haired teen groaned as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Ugh…are we there yet Happy?"

The flying cat, Happy, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we just got here so you gotta wake up, Natsu."

Natsu nodded in understanding as a third voice asked, "Sleep well?"

Natsu turned to look at a pale-skinned young woman with long red hair worn in a pair of massive, waist-length braids tied behind her waist, red eyes, and a voluptuous figure with large breasts and wide hips, the same mark as Natsu appearing on the upper side of her right breast, visible through her revealing crimson dress that was secured by halter-neck straps, which left her back, sides, and a large portion of her cleavage down to just above her navel exposed, and extending down to her calves, with a slit down the side for her legs to move freely, two sewn patches of dark grey fabric at the dress' waist, long red gloves that almost reached her shoulders, and red, high-heeled shoes.

Natsu nodded in agreement as he reached out a hand to help the woman stand. "You bet, Flare."

Flare nodded happily as the two of them stepped out of a long train, Natsu stretching in relief.

"Ohh man, that felt good!" he exclaimed.

Happy snickered derisively. "It only felt good because you got to sleep on Flare's lap instead of getting motion sick."

"Hey, it works don't it?!"

As the three made their way off the train and into the city ahead of them, a sign denoting it as Hargeon, Flare put a finger to her chin. "Natsu, are you sure this is the place we should go to find him?"

Natsu grinned in response. "Yeah, I heard that Salamander should be here, so we should go looking."

"Sala…mander…?" Flare remarked curiously before tilting her head. "But isn't that…?"

"Come on Flare, or you'll get left behind!" Happy called.

"Ah!" Flare gasped before running to catch up.

* * *

As the three made their way through the city, Flare stopped and glanced over down a side street.

Natsu blinked as he noticed Flare standing with her head tilted curiously. "Oy, Flare, what's up?"

Flare lazily pointed down the street she was looking at. "There's a commotion down there."

Natsu raised an eyebrow as he looked where he saw a large number of girls gathered around a single spot, he heard one say, "I can't believe it's actually Salamander, the famous fire mage!"

Natsu blinked and looked at Happy.

"Salamander?!" they both said excitedly.

"Then it has to be Igneel!" Natsu said victoriously.

Flare tried to stop him weakly. "But…Natsu…wait…" Flare merely sighed and followed after the two.

* * *

As the three neared the group of girls gathered around a single point Natsu noticed that all of the girls were captivated by the supposed Salamander, with Natsu pushing through the group before eventually stumbling up to the "Salamander". Natsu blinked curiously as he looked at the man.

The "Salamander" before him was a tall and slim man with short, spiky blue hair jutting upwards, black eyes, and a purple mark above his right eye wearing a dark blue, high-collared cape reaching to just above his knees, a grey reverse side, a yellow border, and ornate blue designs on the edges, closed just below his neck with a flame-shaped fastener, a simple, white, short-sleeved shirt, magenta, pinstripe pants, and multiple metal bracelets on his wrists as well as several rings on his fingers.

Natsu blinked curiously and then sighed heavily. "You're not the right Salamander." Natsu stood up and shrugged turning to leave, only to get mauled by several of the girls in the crowd, all angry that he was rude to "Salamander."

"Salamander" walked up to the battered Natsu, holding a piece of paper in his hand and signing the word, "Salamander" on it and handed it to Natsu. "Here, I'll let you have my autograph for the trouble."

Natsu put up a hand in annoyance. "Not interested."

At that moment, one of the girls in the audience flinched before "Salamander" saluted, taking off with a swirl of purple flames. "You know ladies, I've got a party on my boat later, and all of you are invited."

All of the girls cheered happily, except for Flare who stood with an exasperated expression.

"I tried to tell you Natsu, isn't Salamander your title?" she asked.

Natsu blinked curiously and then turned blue before falling to his knees. "…Crap…"

Flare smiled as she knelt down, ruffling Natsu's hair. "There, there," she said plainly.

As Natsu stood up his stomach growled loudly. "So hungry…"

At that moment one of the girls that was in the crowd, a teenage girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, a small ponytail to one side held with a blue ribbon, brown eyes, a large chest, who wore a sleeveless white shirt with a blue cross design on it, a folded collar, a short, pleated, blue skirt, with a brown belt that held a black whip on one side and a pouch with a set of keys on the other, and knee-high black boots walked up to him.

Flare frowned in annoyance while Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What's up?" Natsu asked.

The blonde looked at him and asked, "Want me to buy you lunch?"

Natsu and Happy smiled excitedly and nodded.

Flare pouted annoyed.

The blonde nodded happily.

* * *

Inside a restaurant, Natsu and Happy voraciously devoured multiple plates of food, Flare eating calmly as the blonde watched in surprise.

Natsu took a moment to breathe between bites and asked, "So why'd you buy us food and everything?"

The blonde nodded in understanding. "It's a thank you. That jerk Salamander guy was using a Charm Ring on all of the girls around him, it even worked on me, haaa," she paused with a heavy sigh, "but you interrupting him like that broke the spell. So I have to thank you because who knows what would've happened if you hadn't."

Flare smiled proudly and leaned over, wrapping her arms around Natsu's. "Well I suppose that just proves how weak you are. After all, I only have eyes for Natsu, I couldn't be charmed into anyone else."

The blonde twitched an eyebrow. "Watch it redhead, I could force you to pay for your own meal."

Flare looked at her flatly. "You wouldn't dare."

"Watch me."

Happy then remarked, "Ooh, catfight, rawr."

"You're the cat here!" the blonde rebutted and then paused and blinked curiously. "Gah! Talking cat!"

"You only just now noticed?"

Natsu tilted his head curiously and then asked, "What's your name anyway? Mine's Natsu."

The blonde nodded. "I'm Lucy."

"And I'm Flare," the redhead remarked, possessively hugging Natsu's arm.

"No one asked!"

"So that guy was gettin' you with some type o' magic, huh?" Natsu asked.

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like I said, a Charm Spell. It's a spell that breaks once the victim is aware what's happening. Actually, I'm a mage myself, though I haven't joined a guild yet. Oh, in case you don't know, a guild is a place where a whole bunch of wizards gather together and do jobs and share information. I _really_ want to be in one so I can be a full-fledged mage. I know that once I do join one I'll be able to start taking jobs and earning money." Lucy then sighed happily before asking, "So you guys are looking for someone?"

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Igneel, the Salamander."

Flare sighed in response.

"Although, he doesn't look like a Salamander."

Lucy laughed good-naturedly. "I would hope not."

"Yeah, he doesn't look like a Salamander because he's a dragon," Natsu said plainly.

Lucy stopped mid-laugh and then paled. "D-dragon!? You've gotta be kidding! Even for mages, meeting a dragon is rare to the point of impossible! Besides, a dragon wouldn't just be hopping around the middle of a city."

Natsu and Happy paled. "He wouldn't?"

Flare sighed and looked at Natsu with a pout. "I tried to tell you that, Natsu."

Natsu frowned. "Ohhh…and I thought for certain Igneel would be here…"

* * *

After a few more minutes of talking Lucy paid for their meal and began to leave, but as she turned towards the exit she found Natsu and Happy kneeled over behind her. "Eh?"

"Thank you for your kindness!" Natsu and Happy said in unison, Flare standing silently behind them.

Natsu then added, "There's no reason to pay for our meal, since we weren't trying to save you." He then handed her "Salamander's" autograph. "Here, for thanks."

Lucy looked at it disgusted. "No one would want that."

As Lucy walked out of the restaurant Natsu wondered what to do with the autograph from "Salamander".

Flare walked up to him and touched the autograph, right before it was engulfed in flame.

Natsu grinned happily and stuffed the burning piece of paper in his mouth before gulping it down.

* * *

Later that night, Natsu, Happy, and Flare were wandering on a roadside when they noticed multiple lights in the distance. "Hmm…what's goin' on there?" Natsu asked.

Flare put a hand above her eyes to get a better look, a pointless gesture as the sun was down. "I don't know, it looks like a boat."

As the three stood several girls walked past them, one saying, "Did you hear? That Salamander guy is an actual Fairy Tail wizard."

"Wow, so cool!" another exclaimed.

Flare and Natsu watched the two leave before turning back to the boat, Natsu clenching his fists angrily. "So this guy says he's from Fairy Tail, huh?"

Flare raised an eyebrow and turned to Natsu. "Should we go?"

Natsu nodded and the group made their way down the hill they were on towards the boat.

* * *

As the three approached the boat, Flare noticed something fall into the water as a commotion started.

Happy then jumped onto Natsu's back. "Come on, let's go!" Happy exclaimed.

Natsu nodded as wide, white, feathered wings emerged from Happy's back, before the two took off into the air.

At the same time, Flare took off the tie on her braids and shook her hair loose, causing it to fall to its full length, flowing down her back.

* * *

As Natsu and Happy made their way towards the boat, they heard a familiar voice shout frantically, "You're supposed to be from Fairy Tail, aren't you?! You're the worst kind of wizard!"

Natsu grit his teeth as his fists became encased in flame. "Let's go, Happy."

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed as he released Natsu, dropping him onto the top of the barge.

* * *

Inside, "Salamander" stood in front of a crying Lucy, with multiple goons around him holding unconscious women. "Now, now, don't worry. I'll just be taking you and the rest of my merchandise to Bosco," "Salamander" said in an attempt to "sooth" Lucy.

Lucy clenched her fist when the ceiling suddenly burst as something fell through.

As the smoke cleared, Natsu stood up in front of Lucy, a glare on his face and his fists covered in flames.

"Wh-what the…?!" "Salamander" shouted.

"Bora, what should we do?!" one the men shouted.

"Salamander", who was actually Bora, turned and shouted, "Don't call me that you dolt!"

At that moment Happy swooped down and grabbed onto Lucy, taking her away from the ship.

"Hey!" Bora shouted as he shot several bursts of purple flame at Happy and Lucy, Happy dodging through the air and missing each shot.

However, after a few moments Happy grunted.

"Wh-what's wrong?! Did he get you?!" Lucy asked frantically.

"N-no…" Happy strained. "I'm…out of power…" Happy's wings then vanished in a burst of light and both he and Lucy fell into the water.

* * *

Back inside the ship, Natsu glared and was about to attack Bora and his men when the boat started to rock. "Oh crap…" Natsu groaned before he fell to the floor, motion sickness taking ahold powerfully.

Bora raised an eyebrow and then chuckled in amusement. "How pathetic. Take care of him."

Bora's goons then gathered around Natsu and started pummeling him.

* * *

At the same time, Lucy saw a ring of keys stuck on a rock underneath the water, and dove down to grab them. As she reemerged at the surface she took in a breath and then nodded to herself. "With all this water around, I can summon Aquarius." She then took a golden key from the ring and stuck it in the water. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" A magic circle appeared in the water, a bell ringing as a figure appeared from within it.

The figure was a royal blue mermaid with waist-length blue hair combed back, a long, blue fish tail that started after her waist, and a large bust covered by a dark blue bikini top, holding a blue pot under one arm.

Happy gaped in shock at the sight. "Wow!"

Lucy smirked proudly. "I'm a Celestial Spirit Wizard, I can summon Spirits like Aquarius here to help me."

"Cool!"

Aquarius then turned to Lucy with a deep scowl.

"Oh crap, she's angry," Lucy gulped.

* * *

Back on the ship, Natsu was helpless against Bora's grunts until several were hit with long streams of fire, sending them flying into the opposite walls.

Bora gaped before he and his men turned to see Flare standing outside the room, her hair elongated and flowing like tendrils, encased in flames, and a furious scowl on her face. "Don't you hurt Natsu!"

Her flame-coated hair then shot forward, striking and ensnaring several of Bora's goons, burning several as she tossed them out into the ocean, before walking towards Natsu and Bora, still scowling.

Bora stumbled backwards as Flare walked towards him, falling against the wall with a frightened expression. "N-now, let's not get crazy okay…?"

Flare's scowl turned to a warm smile as she sat down and placed Natsu's head in her lap and began stroking his hair. "There, feel better?"

Natsu moaned happily as he fell asleep.

"Whhhaaa…!?" Bora shouted in shock. "Are you mocking me!?"

* * *

Lucy gulped as she looked at Aquarius. "Wh-what's wrong…Aquarius…?"

Aquarius sighed angrily. "The next time you lose my key like that…I'll kill you!"

Lucy and Happy gasped in fear as water surged from the urn in her hands, sending the two flowing away. Though it had the added effect of pushing the ship to shore, grounding it and damaging it heavily.

"Why'd you get me in the blast too?" Lucy asked weakly as she laid in the rubble of the ship.

Aquarius huffed. "Hmph, I was aiming for you, not the ship. I messed up by destroying it."

"What?!"

"Now, don't even think about summoning me for a while, I'll be on vacation with my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?!"

Aquarius then vanished in a shimmer of light.

Lucy and Happy then got up and ran over to the damaged ship, where they saw Bora and his men strewn about, though Lucy gaped when she saw Natsu and Flare sitting quietly, Natsu's head resting on her lap. "Is this seriously the time for that?!"

Flare lightly patted Natsu's head. "Time to get up, we're on the shore," she said softly.

Natsu stood up and cracked his knuckles as he walked over to the edge of where the room's floor was, and looked down to see Bora and the others standing below them, both Natsu and Flare angry at the group.

Bora looked up and saw Natsu and raised an eyebrow.

"Oy, _Salamander_ , you said you're a Fairy Tail mage, right?" Natsu asked angrily.

"Yeah, so what?" Bora responded bluntly.

"Funny, I don't remember you. Because, you see, _I'm_ a Fairy Tail mage too."

Bora's eyes widened, as did Lucy's, as she noticed the mark on Natsu's shoulder and on Flare's chest, the brand of Fairy Tail.

Flare then narrowed her eyes. "I thought his name sounded familiar. Natsu, he's Bora the Prominence."

"I don't care who he is," Natsu rebutted angrily. "He made a mockery of Fairy Tail and tricked people into thinking he's one of us and did bad stuff, now he's gonna pay."

"Ah crap," Bora grunted. As Natsu prepared to attack, Bora hissed and raised a hand. "Not so fast." Purple flames emerged from a magic circle and rocketed towards Natsu, engulfing both him and Flare.

"Oh no!" Lucy exclaimed.

However, a bubbling sound emanated from the flames as they started converging on a single point before they began to diminish as Natsu swallowed the flames.

"What!?" Lucy shouted.

Happy explained, "Flames don't work on Natsu, he's a Fire Dragon Slayer. It's a Lost Magic, he's got the scales of a dragon so flames don't hurt him and he's got the lungs of a dragon so he can eat fire."

Natsu wiped his chin with the back of his hand and sneered. "Che, those flames of yours taste awful."

Flare asked shyly, "Would you rather use mine, Natsu?"

Natsu grinned and nodded. "You bet!"

Flare smiled and flared her hair out, encasing it in flames that Natsu immediately began gulping down. Flare folded her arms and moaned with a reddened face as Natsu devoured the flames her body produced, throwing her head back slightly.

"That's too much!" Lucy shot.

After a few seconds Natsu sighed and then chuckled. "Much better, now I'm all fired up!"

Flare put a hand to her cheek with a satisfied moan.

One of Bora's men then gasped. "Oh crap, Bora, that guy, I think he's…the _real_ Salamander!"

"Shit…" Bora cursed as Natsu prepared to attack.

Natsu slammed his fists together, causing a magic circle to form in front of him, his pupils became slitted, and he placed his fists in front of his mouth, his right in front of the left, as another magic circle appeared in front of his hands and he shouted, "Fire Dragon Roar!" A powerful stream of fire then blasted from the magic circle and tore towards Bora and his men. Unfortunately, his attack extended far beyond Bora and his men, destroying a portion of the city as well.

Natsu sighed in relief as he and Flare jumped down.

Lucy gaped in shock. "Is this…really what Fairy Tail wizards are like…?"

Natsu, Lucy, Flare, and Happy then turned as multiple guards started running towards them.

Natsu then ran, grabbing Lucy's hand.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" Lucy asked confused.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail, right? Well then, come on, I'll take you there," Natsu said happily.

Lucy widened her eyes and then nodded in agreement.

Flare puffed her cheeks slightly as the group ran away from the pursuing soldiers.

* * *

At the same time, in a different place, a group of people stood suspended over a large Magic Circle.

As they discussed different topics, one voice spoke up. "This is ridiculous. Fairy Tail merely causes destruction everywhere it goes."

Another voice added, "Agreed. This guild is nothing more a bunch of fools."

"All they do is break things," a third voice interjected.

A young man with short blue hair, a red, tribal tattoo encompassing his right eye, wearing a long white tunic with black stripes across the edges and on the upper part of his arms, a decorated collar, large straps connected to decorated buckles, and matching pants and shoes, spoke up in a calm voice, "I'd have to disagree. While Fairy Tail does cause its fair share of trouble, it also helps in many things. I can think of several instances where their actions have been invaluable."

"Hmmm…regardless of your personal liking towards them, Siegrain, we are still left with a problem. Fairy Tail is a troublesome and destructive guild, but at the same time competent and strong."

"Then I suggest we merely leave them be," Siegrain recommended. "If they cause too much further issue we can deal with them."

"…So be it…"

* * *

At that same time, Natsu, Lucy, Flare, and Happy arrived in front of A large, three-story stone building with multiple extravagant towers, a bell-tower at the top of the building, and a large, orange banner bearing the symbol of Fairy Tail upon it in white.

"Wow…" Lucy said surprised.

Natsu grinned as he walked up to the front door and kicked it open roughly, shouting, "Hey! I'm back!"

However, right as the door opened a sudden blast of water shot from within, slamming into Flare and sending her flying back.

"Wh-what the…?!" Lucy shouted in shock and confusion.

Happy then gulped worriedly. "Uh-oh. Juvia's angry."

Flare sighed in frustration as she grabbed her hair, heavy and wet with water. "I guess I forgot about her."

Lucy gulped and asked, "Wh-who…?"

At that moment a slender young woman with dark blue eyes, fair skin, and long, elbow-length, wavy blue hair wearing an ankle-length, blue dress with parallel, light blue stripes going down the front, accentuating her impressive bust, white, furry cuffs on the wrist-length sleeves, a slit up the left side, up to her hip, exposing a blue Fairy Tail mark on her left hip, knee-length brown boots, a short, dark blue shawl around her shoulders with white fur on the collar and the bottom, and a dark blue Cossack hat with white fur trim and a single, yellow, flower pin walked towards the front entrance of the guildhall. She looked at Flare with an intense glare. "Flare…explain…" she said in a very angry tone. "Why did you not wake Juvia this morning and tell her Natsu-Sama was going somewhere?"

Flare began to sweat heavily. "I…forgot…?" she said, or rather, asked, with a weak, apologetic shrug.

Juvia narrowed her eyes in thought. "Juvia wonders how fat you would look if she shoved one hundred gallons of water down your throat."

Flare began waving her arms frantically. "Th-th-that's not necessary!"

Lucy paled slightly. "C-can someone even expand that much…?"

Natsu grinned and nodded. "Yeah, Mira does sometimes."

Juvia outstretched a hand, causing a sphere of water to appear in her grasp. "Juvia thinks it is necessary."

Flare paled in concern. "N-now…let's be reasonable…neh…?"

"Juvia's being very reasonable, Flare. Very reasonable."

Natsu then pointed at the water sphere and asked, "If you're not gonna do anything with that, mind if I take a sip?"

Juvia instantly turned to Natsu with a smile. "Juvia doesn't mind at all, Natsu-Sama!"

Flare sighed in relief but almost immediately found a bubble of water around her head. After a moment Flare's hair ignited, evaporating the water.

Juvia frowned in annoyance before one of the people inside the guildhall walked up to Natsu mildly annoyed. "You really caused havoc back in Hargeon, did you know that?"

Natsu growled and kicked the guy in the face hard. "Well maybe you should've told me that the 'Salamander' there was a fake you jerk!"

"It's not my fault that you screwed up, dumbass!"

However, when the guy had gotten kicked across the room he knocked over another patron's drink, who immediately stood up and punched the guy, sending him flying at a table where several others were drinking and eating as well, getting them equally enraged.

Almost in the blink of an eye the entire area erupted in a full brawl.

A young man with spiky black hair, dark blue eyes, his blue Fairy Tail crest on his right pectoral muscle, who wore a pair of dark green pants with a light brown belt, a metal bracelet on his right wrist, a necklace with a crest resembling a sword with a gem in it, and a chain attached to the belt loops on the right side of his pants, who was wearing nothing more _than_ that at the time, scowled angrily and shouted, "Hey Natsu!" as he walked over towards the pink-haired Dragon Slayer.

However, he was stopped by a tall, slim, tanned young woman, with an ample bust and long, wavy, mid-back brown hair that had two shoulder-length strands framing her face, with one starting from a prominent, high fringe, big brown eyes with prominent eyelashes, a black Fairy Tail stamp on the left side of her abdomen just above her hips, with most of her upper body exposed save for a blue bikini top, which in itself did little to hide her breasts, a pair of capri pants, high-heeled sandals, three plain bracelets on her left wrist, and a pair of metal bracelets adorning her biceps, who was also drinking out of a full-sized beer barrel. "Gray, your clothes."

The dark-haired teen, Gray, raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about Cana?" He then looked down at himself and gaped, "What the…?!"

The woman, Cana, sighed.

Suddenly a large, muscular man with tanned skin, long white hair styled upwards in long, wavy spikes with no eyebrows and dark eyes, a scar under his right eye, a black Fairy Tail crest on the left side of his neck, who wore a dark blue jacket with a purple liner, held closed by a series of buttons, a zipper on the front that left the collar open, matching pants, and wooden geta sandals, slammed his foot on the table. "This fight's for a real man!" He then slammed into one of the other people inside the hall who had a chair in his hands.

A relatively handsome young man with hazel eyes and shaggy orange hair, who wore azure-tinted sunglasses, three piercings in his left ear, a green coat with a wide collar and prominent, spiky, brownish fur trimming it over a red shirt, black pants, and off-white sneakers sat on a wide bench with two girls on either side of him. "You should try to be more calm, Elfman."

"Won't you be joining the fray, Loke?" one of the girls asked.

With a smirk he, Loke, answered, "No, I'm a lover not a fighter." That is until he was hit with a chair, flipping the bench on its back.

Loke then stood up and adjusted his glasses. "Okay…now I'm mad."

Lucy looked around and gaped. "There isn't a single sane person here…"

At that moment, a young woman with long white hair, which curled at the ends and had the bangs tied up into a small ponytail, a rather impressively large bust, and blue eyes who wore a long maroon colored dress and matching high-heeled shoes walked to Lucy with a smile. "Hi there, you must be new."

Lucy stared at the woman for a moment before gasping. "Y-you're…Mirajane Strauss…one of Sorcerer Weekly's top models, aren't you?"

The woman, Mirajane, nodded in return. "I am. But you can just call me Mira."

Mirajane was about to speak again when Natsu ended up tossing the large-built man through the air, causing him to crash right on top of Mirajane.

"Gah! Mira!" Lucy shouted.

"As you can see, it's always lively here," Mirajane said with a bump on her head before passing out.

Natsu grinned victoriously at the large man. "Hah! Take that Elfman!"

"Way to go Natsu," Flare cheered.

"Go Natsu-Sama!" Juvia cheered ecstatically before she and Flare scowled at each other.

As Natsu was about to respond, a massive, shadowed figure crushed him underfoot.

Lucy paled as she looked up and saw the massive, hulking figure standing in the center of the guildhall.

"That's enough! Out of all of you!" it shouted in a deep, bellowing tone. The commotion in the guildhall stopped almost immediately. The figure then turned and saw Lucy.

"Eep!" Lucy squeaked in fear.

The figure then began shrink, shrinking down to an extremely short, elderly man with black eyes, balding white hair, and a thick mustache wearing a white shirt with a black symbol on the front, an orange hoodie, matching orange shorts, pointed shoes, and a blue and orange striped jester hat.

Lucy blinked curiously in disbelief. "Huh…?"

"Nice to meet'cha. I'm Makarov Dreyar, the Guildmaster of Fairy Tail," he greeted.

"Y-you're…the Guildmaster!?" Lucy shouted in disbelief.

Rather than answer her, Makarov jumped up to the second floor railing of the guildhall. He then pulled out a large stack of papers and showed them to the guild. "Do you all see these?!" he shouted.

"Y-yeah…what's it about…?" Natsu asked curiously.

"These are all of the complaints that have been filed with the Council against Fairy Tail!"

' _H-huge!_ ' Lucy shouted in her head.

Makarov smirked as the stack of papers in his grasp caught fire. "Although, as far as I'm concerned, the Council can blow it out their ears!" He then tossed the burning pages into the air, prompting Natsu to leap up and devour them. "We have no reason to be afraid of those watchful eyes and ears of the Council, since we're Fairy Tail!"

The rest of the guild cheered in agreement with Makarov.

* * *

Sometime later, Natsu stood in front of a large board with many different fliers on it.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed as she ran up to him.

Natsu turned to her curiously.

"Look!" she said happily as she showed him her right hand, which now had a pink Fairy Tail emblem on it.

Natsu smirked in response. "Nice work, Lucy."

Lucy nodded happily.

As the two spoke, Natsu saw a slim young boy with straight, dark purple hair and blue eyes wearing a dark green T-shirt with a yellow symbol on the front, pleated shorts with two large pockets in the back, and simple sandals, each held up by two bands joined by a round button talking with Makarov.

"Come on, Gramps!" the boy shouted frantically. "My dad's been gone for over a week!"

Makarov sighed before turning to the boy. "Romeo, you should just go back home and wait patiently. Macao can take care of himself."

Romeo clenched his fists in frustration.

Natsu slammed his fist into the request board before walking out of the guildhall.

"N-Natsu-Sama! Wait!" Juvia shouted as she ran after him.

"N-Natsu?" Lucy remarked curiously. "Why did he rush out like that?"

"I can probably guess why," Mirajane remarked.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"He probably sees a little of himself in Romeo."

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"

Flare, who had suddenly appeared behind Lucy, startling the blonde, explained, "Natsu was raised by Igneel, a dragon. Igneel taught him how to speak, fight, and how to use Dragon Slayer Magic. But then he just vanished seven years ago."

"I see…" Lucy muttered in thought.

* * *

Natsu, Lucy, Juvia, and Happy sat in a wagon driving up a snowy mountain.

Juvia sighed as Natsu sat, slumped over in the seat across from her. "Ohh…why is Flare the only one who can make Natsu-Sama feel better? Why can't Juvia?!"

Lucy sighed before rubbing her arms. "Yeesh, it's so cold here."

"Well that's Mt. Hakobe for you," Happy interjected.

Lucy merely sighed in frustration.

Eventually the wagon suddenly stopped.

"H-hey! Why'd we stop?" Lucy asked in confusion.

The driver of the wagon answered, "The weather's too bad here. I can't take you any further than this." He then turned around and left after the others got off.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding!" Lucy shouted in exasperation.

Natsu flexed his arm as he looked around. "All we gotta do now is find Macao."

Lucy, shivering, asked, "Why would this Macao guy take a job all the way out here anyway?!"

"These mountains are inhabited by powerful creatures called Vulcans. Macao came to fight them off."

"He's crazy…" Lucy groaned before pulling out one of her keys. "I can't take this! Open, Gate of the Clock: Horologium!"

A magic circle appeared in the air before, with a burst of smoke, a tall, brown grandfather clock with long, thin, black arms and legs, a glass case, a numerical clock face at the center, and a small face at the top with slit eyes, a thin, twirly, moustache-like mouth.

"Horologium, let me in!" Lucy exclaimed.

The glass case on the clock opened, allowing Lucy to crawl inside before it closed on her.

Horologium then began speaking, "It's way too cold out there, I'm going to stay in here, so she says."

Juvia smirked in amusement. "What's wrong, can't handle the cold? Juvia can take it just fine."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow.

Natsu looked around in frustration before bellowing, "Macao! Where are you!?"

Horologium said calmly, "Stop that you idiot, you'll cause an avalanche, she shouts."

At that moment, a large, ape-like creature with dark grey skin, white fur, and a tall, pointed head, elongated chin, and circular markings on its arms appeared in front of the group.

"What the hell is that, she exclaims."

Natsu's fists were encased in flames as he looked at the beast. "It's a Vulcan!"

The Vulcan sniffed the air for a moment before turning to Juvia and grinning widely. "Pretty woman!" it shouted before grabbing Juvia and running off.

"Natsu-Sama!" Juvia called as the beast carried her away.

"Juvia!" Natsu bellowed. "Get back here with my mate you bastard!" Natsu hollered before giving chase.

* * *

Soon, in an icy cave, the Vulcan threw Juvia down as it looked at her.

Juvia groaned as she sat up. "You stupid beast, you won't get away with this!" She raised a hand as water began to condense in her grasp.

The Vulcan grinned and took in a deep breath before exhaling, sending a pungent cloud towards Juvia.

Juvia's eyes widened as the water in her grasp fell and she felt her body begin to grow weak. ' _N-no…this is…_ ' Juvia stumbled for a moment before collapsing to her knees.

The Vulcan walked up to Juvia with a wide grin, reaching a hand out towards her.

"Don't touch her!" Natsu shouted as he slammed a flame-encased fist into the beast's face, sending it flying away towards the back of the cave.

The Vulcan growled before standing up. "Annoying!"

Natsu glanced to the side and noticed Juvia attempting and failing to stand, her complexion discolored. He turned to the beast and snarled. "Alright you bastard, what'd you do to her?!"

The Vulcan merely sniggered before chucking a large chunk of ice at Natsu.

Natsu swung a punch at the ice chunk, shattering it to pieces. "And where the hell's Macao?!"

The Vulcan blinked and then pointed to a hole nearby.

"Macao!" Natsu shouted as he ran over, only to see the edge of the mountain. "Hey! You-!" Natsu turned to shout, only to get kicked out the hole by the Vulcan.

At that moment, Horologium vanished in a shimmer of light, leaving Lucy behind.

"W-wait! Horologium!" Lucy exclaimed.

The Vulcan sniggered as he turned to Lucy and Juvia. "Ooh, two ladies!"

Lucy snarled in annoyance. "Crap, I can't believe it's come to this." She then pulled another key from her pocket and raised it in the air before shouting, "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

A Celestial Spirit magic circle appeared and from within it appeared, in a burst of smoke, an extremely tall, muscular, humanoid with the head and tail of a cow along with white and black spotted fur all over his body who wore a large golden ring on his nose, a pair of swim briefs, knee-length boots, a red belt around his neck with a bell attached, bandages around his forearms, black, fingerless gloves, and a massive axe slung over his back.

Taurus immediately turned to Lucy and shouted, "Ooh! Miss Luuucy yoouu've got a nice body in that outfit!" with hearts in his eyes.

Lucy groaned in annoyance. "Argh! I forgot he's as big a pervert as the Vulcan! Just fight that pervy monkey!"

"Yoouu got it Miss Lucy!" Taurus shouted before charging at the Vulcan.

However, before Taurus could attack the Vulcan, Natsu suddenly reappeared and slammed a flaming fist into Taurus' face. "Take that you stupid monster!"

Lucy gaped in disbelief. "You idiot! The Vulcan's over there!"

Natsu blinked curiously and looked ahead, seeing Taurus lying unconscious on the ground and then turned and saw the Vulcan standing nearby. Natsu scratched his head in confusion. "Huh…"

The Vulcan glanced over and saw Taurus' axe, grinning deviously.

"Natsu-Sama!" Juvia shouted.

Natsu turned suddenly as the Vulcan swung Taurus' axe at the teen. Natsu deftly jumped over the attack and spat several blasts of fire at the beast.

The Vulcan grinned and swept the axe in front of itself, putting out the flames.

"Oh, come on!" Natsu growled in frustration.

The Vulcan swung again, Natsu dodging once more.

Natsu attempted to spin and attack the beast but slipped on the ice and fell flat on his back.

The Vulcan capitalized on the moment and swung the axe down at Natsu.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted as the axe seemingly hit him.

However, Natsu barely managed to catch the axe and stop it from hitting him. He then grinned as the axe started to heat up and melt.

"H-he's…melting it…" Lucy said in surprise.

Natsu opened wide as the molten drops of metal fell into his mouth. He grinned proudly before saying, "Now I'm all fired up!"

The Vulcan blinked curiously as Natsu pulled the axe from its grasp, kipped up to his feet, and then reared back his fist which became encased in bright flames. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he shouted as he slammed his fist into the Vulcan, the flames exploding forward, sending the beast crashing into the opposite wall.

As the Vulcan slumped to the floor its body was showered in light, which then faded to reveal a slim, mildly muscular man with short, straight, slicked-back, blue hair, linear, dark eyebrows, a prominent nose, and a large amount of stubble on his face, including a thin mustache, wearing a knee-length white jacket with a blue liner, rolled up sleeves, as well as a simple, dark shirt underneath, brown, pinstriped pants held by a light-colored belt bearing a snake pattern with a simple, square buckle, a distinctive pair of shoes with a leopard pattern, and a large, serpentine necklace who was heavily bruised and beaten.

Lucy exclaimed, in shock, "Whoa! It turned into a guy!?"

Juvia stood up and turned to her, annoyed. "Don't you know how Vulcans fight?"

Lucy smiled weakly, attempting to hide her exasperation. "Ah…n-no…not really…"

"They use Take-Over Magic to take control of a target as a new body."

"Creepy…"

Natsu walked up to the man, who groaned as he awoke.

The man sighed as Natsu helped him stand. "How pathetic am I? I beat nineteen Vulcans only to get Taken Over by the last one."

Natsu chuckled as he punched the man in the arm lightly. "Come on, beating nineteen Vulcans is something you can brag about, Macao."

Macao snickered weakly. "Maybe you're right."

* * *

Back in the town, Romeo sat on the steps, dismayed. "Those jerks." He thought back to sometime ago.

* * *

 _Romeo stood in front of a group of boys who were taunting him._

 _"Hey, you're the kid who's dad is a member of that stupid guild, right?" one boy asked with a sardonic smirk._

 _Another boy remarked snidely, "Yeah. They're just a bunch of useless wizards who sit around doing nothing but drinking!"_

* * *

Romeo clenched his fists in frustration. ' _Those bullies are the reason I begged Dad to go and get a job from the request board. And because of that…_ ' Tears began flowing down Romeo's face.

"Romeo!" Natsu shouted.

Romeo looked up and widened his eyes as he saw Natsu and the others returning to the guild, a battered Macao limping with Natsu helping him stand. "Dad!" Romeo shouted as he ran over to the man. As he and his father embraced happily, Romeo shouted joyously, "Thanks Natsu, Juvia, Happy! You guys brought my dad back!"

Lucy, annoyed, snarled, "Hey! I fought that thing too!"

* * *

Natsu walked into the guildhall and looked around. "Hmm…"

"Something wrong, Natsu?" Mirajane asked as she took a tray back to the bar.

"Hey, where's Lucy?"

Mirajane blinked and then smiled. "She bought an apartment down by the river." She reached under the desk and handed Natsu a key. "Here, this should open it."

Natsu grinned and nodded. "Thanks! C'mon Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy concurred happily.

Flare blinked curiously and followed and behind the two.

* * *

Sometime later, Lucy walked into the lounge of her apartment and flinched in surprise when she saw Natsu, Happy, and Flare sitting on her sofa.

"Yo, Lucy!" Natsu greeted happily.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Lucy demanded.

Natsu blinked curiously. "What do you mean? We came to greet you!" Natsu said with a grin. "Ama said it's always best to greet women in the morning."

Lucy raised an eyebrow curiously. "Ama?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. My dad was Igneel, but my mom was Amaterasu."

"Amaterasu…don't think I've heard that name before."

* * *

Deciding the trio were not going to leave, Lucy made tea and handed cups to both Flare and Natsu.

"You know, it's rude to barge into someone's house like this," Lucy chided.

Natsu tilted his head in confusion and pulled out the key Mirajane gave him. "Really? Mira gave me this key so I figured it was okay."

"Why does she have a key to _my_ apartment!?" Lucy exclaimed in confusion.

Natsu put the key away, however, when he did, Lucy noticed something glint in his pocket.

Lucy blinked in thought and pointed to it. "Hey, what was that in your pocket?"

Natsu tilted his head curiously and pulled out a strangely-shaped golden key with a spade-tip and a purple object coiling around it.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you have a Zodiac Spirit Key?"

Natsu blinked as he looked at it. "Yukino gave it to me."

"Yukino?"

Natsu nodded. "Yukino Agria. She's a friend of mine in the guild. She gave me this key."

"Do you actually know how to use it?" Lucy asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. I've summoned Ophiuchus a couple times."

Lucy tilted her head curiously. "Ophiuchus? That's not one I know."

Natsu raised an eyebrow and then shrugged, putting the key in his pocket. "Oh, right! You're a Celestial Spirit Mage like Yukino, right?"

Lucy nodded. ' _So I'm not the only Celestial Spirit Mage in Fairy Tail, huh?_ ' She then pulled the keys from the pouch on her waist. "I have six Gate Keys right now. Three of them are Zodiacs, the other three are the regular, silver keys." Lucy then raised both eyebrows in realization. "Oh, that's right! I have that new key I bought. I need to make a contract." She then turned to Natsu. "Have you ever seen a Celestial Spirit Mage make a contract before?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I saw Yukino make contracts a couple times before."

"I see…" Lucy frowned in thought. ' _Sounds like this Yukino girl is going to be competition._ ' She then pulled out a small grey box and pulled from it a simple silver key. Nodding to herself, she raised the key and shouted, "Open, Gate of Little Dog, Nikola!"

A magic circle appeared in the air and a burst of smoke emanated from it. As the smoke cleared, a short and stout white creature with bland eyes, an orange, horn-like nose similar to a carrot, whose body trembled slightly.

Natsu twitched an eyebrow as he looked at the creature. "That's completely ridiculous."

Lucy frowns. "I think it's cute. Besides, the Nikola don't take much energy to summon and so a lot of people use them as pets."

Natsu sat silently as Lucy created her contract with the Nikola.

After a few moments Lucy folded her arms in thought. "Right…now I need to give you a name. Hmm…ah! How 'bout Plue?"

The little Nikola, Plue, nodded happily in agreement.

"What a weird name," Natsu and Happy muttered in unison.

"Shut it!" Lucy snarled. Lucy then sighed and asked, "Okay…so why are you guys here anyway?"

"We wanted to form a team with you to go on jobs," Natsu answered with a smile.

"Aren't you already on a team with Flare?" Lucy asked.

Flare smiled victoriously.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, but the more the merrier!"

Flare frowned in resignation.

"I even have a job picked out, but I left it at the guildhall."

Lucy nodded as she stood up before Plue vanished. "Okay, then let's go get it."

* * *

The group made their way back toward the guildhall shortly when a voice called out to them.

"Hey! Natsu!"

Natsu and the others turned and saw two people walking towards them.

The first was a slender, well-endowed young woman with chin-length, light blue hair that curved in, fringes of hair hanging down framing her face and short bangs hanging over her forehead, brown eyes, and slightly tanned skin who wore a short white dress with a low-cut top, blue markings above the skirt and on the border just above her moderate bust, thigh-high, white, high-heeled boots with blue stripes on the top and the ankles, blue bracelets, covered by long, ankle-length cloak that had feathery protrusions around the chest, shoulders, and back, blue feathers at the bottom of the front and the back extended into long, flaring sections secured by blue ribbons, and a blue rose ornament on the left side of her head.

The second was a slim young woman with lightly tanned skin, green eyes with dark, blue-green eyeshadow, long eyelashes, glossy, dark red lipstick, and long, straight, glossy black hair that reached her lower back that was mostly left loose, parting in the middle of her forehead, sporting two long bangs framing her face and reaching just below her shoulders, which is also tied into bun-shaped loops at the sides of her head, with each bun featuring a braid, wearing a cheongsam that was blue in the front and dark blue in the back with a slit up the left side that was opened all the way up her left leg, exposing her thigh and was secured with multiple dark laces, shoulder-length ornamental gloves bearing the same dual colors, and calf-length boots.

Natsu smiled widely as he saw the two. "Hey! Yukino! Minerva!"

The two walked up to the group and turned to Lucy.

"Who's this?" the white-haired girl asked.

"This is Lucy, she's a new member of the guild, and a Celestial Spirit Mage like you, Yukino."

The white-haired girl, Yukino, smiled widely. "That's great to hear!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow in thought. ' _That's Yukino?_ ' Lucy took a moment to look over the girl and pouted in frustration. ' _Darn…she's really pretty. She really_ is _my competition._ ' She then turned to the other woman and asked, "And, you are…?"

The woman bowed politely. "My name is Minerva Orlando."

Natsu then asked, "So you guys finished that job, eh?"

Minerva nodded with a sigh. "Yes. Though it was rather irritating."

Yukino, with a slightly annoyed smile, rebutted, "That's because you insisted on using your Yagd Rigora to get the job done when Libra would've been able to do it in half the time."

Minerva smiled sweetly as she pulled on Yukino's cheeks. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Nuffin, I didn shay nuffin," Yukino slurred as Minerva tugged her cheeks.

"Good," Minerva chirped as she released the white-clade girl's cheeks.

Yukino moaned slightly as she rubbed the sides of her face.

"So, what are you off to do?" Minerva asked Natsu curiously.

Natsu smirked and responded, "Me, Lucy, and Flare are gettin' ready to go on a job together."

Minerva blinked curiously. "Oh? What kind of job?"

* * *

Inside the guildhall, Natsu looked at the job request board and then grinned. "Good, it's still here." He then pulled it down and presented it to Lucy.

Lucy looked at the job request in thought, Yukino, Minerva, and Flare crowded around her to look at it as well. Lucy twitched an eyebrow before sighing and reading the request. "Hmm…wow. This person is offering two hundred thousand Jewel just to recover a lost book. That should be easy."

Natsu grinned victoriously.

Yukino blinked and then pointed to a lower section of the job request. "Look at this."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow. "You've gotta be kidding…the person we're going to take this book from is…an old pervert looking to hire blonde maids…hey!" Lucy looked at Natsu annoyed. "You tricked me!"

Natsu snickered. "C'mon…you said you'd do it."

Lucy sighed in frustration. "Grr…fine."

Yukino smiled weakly and interjected, "If you want, I could come along to help."

Lucy folded her arms in thought and then shrugged. "I guess it couldn't hurt." She then pointed at Natsu, annoyed. "I am going to get you back for this, count on it."

Natsu chuckled in amusement.

* * *

Later, Natsu, Lucy, Yukino, Flare, and Happy made their way towards the location of the quest-giver, Shirotsume Town.

As they were riding to the location via cart, Natsu avoided motion sickness as he slept, using Flare's lap as a pillow.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow as she looked at the sleeping Natsu. "There's just something not right about this…"

"Try not to look at it too judgmentally," Yukino supplicated.

Lucy turned to her curiously. "Why?"

"Well, ever since they were little, Natsu and Flare have always been together. After Natsu's surrogate father, Igneel, vanished, Natsu wandered on his own for a while before he met up with Flare. They wandered the country by themselves for a while before they found their way to Fairy Tail."

Lucy blinked in thought and then turned back to the fiery duo, both of whom were fast asleep. "Is that…really true…?"

Yukino nodded. "Yeah. I joined Fairy Tail after Natsu did, but I still believe that's true."

Lucy frowned in though before hearing Yukino chuckle to herself. "Something funny?"

Yukino turned to her in surprise and then shook her head. "No, just thinking back. I say I joined Fairy Tail after Natsu did, but it's more accurate to say I joined _because_ of Natsu."

Lucy raised an eyebrow in thought. "What do you-?"

"We're here," Yukino interjected as the cart they were in approached the town in question.

"Natsu, it's time to wake up," Flare said softly as she tapped his shoulder.

Natsu groaned before sitting up and stretching with a grin. "Man, I feel great!" His stomach then growled loudly. "Huh…well I say it's time to eat!"

As the group exited the carriage, Lucy grabbed Yukino's wrist and said, "How about you guys go and get something to eat? Yukino and I have some other things to take care of."

"Sounds good!" Natsu said with a grin as he, Flare, and Happy made their way to a restaurant.

Yukino, confused, asked, "W-we do…?"

"Come on, come on!" Lucy hurried as she dragged Yukino to some unknown destination.

* * *

 **And there you have it, the first chapter of Embodiment of Flame! I hope everyone enjoyed it. If you did, please be sure to leave a review. If you did not, go ahead and leave a review, just be sure you are leaving constructive criticism and not mere insults. If you are curious or unsure about anything be sure to leave a review as well and I will do my best to assuage your confusion. Well, I suppose that is everything to say, so I shall see you in the next chapter!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

 **Greetings and salutations all you - wait, that is not right. Ahem, hello to all! Anyway, welcome all to the new chapter of Embodiment of Flame. Hopefully everyone, or at least most everyone, enjoyed the previous chapter, and so far that appears to be the case to an extent. I equally hope the majority enjoy this chapter as well. I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all his help with the story so far and his continued aid with same. There were a few reviews last time, so let us begin with the reviewer responses.**

 **dragneel harem: I cannot guarantee all of those women will be added, but I can guarantee, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Kyouka will not. I quite despise her. The others are possibilities though.**

 **The Insufferable One: Yes, it is a miracle, is it not? Why does it seem that so few people do pairings like that? Well, more pie for me then I suppose. There is a very strong possibility of that, yes.**

 **TheWhiteTitan: Oh I am fairly certain you will not be disappointed. It will not be too much longer.**

 **hornofdesolation: Yeah... for some reason my brain pops out new stories like most people pop out thoughts.**

 **manu: Hhmm... unless I am mistaken I'm fairly certain they are in fact all there. I think**

 **And that about does it for the reviewer responses. I hope to see more in the future. But for now, time to get on with the show!**

* * *

As Natsu, Flare, and Happy ate their meal, they heard Lucy call out to them.

The three turned and gaped when they saw both Lucy and Yukino standing nearby, wearing black and white, frilled, French maid uniforms with black vests that cupped under their breasts, white, button-down blouses that hung tight around their chests with puffed, short sleeves with frilled cuffs, short black skirts, white, frilled aprons, thigh-high white socks, black, formal shoes, and white hairbands atop their heads.

Lucy smiled proudly whilst Yukino blushed in embarrassment.

"L-Lucy…" she muttered as she tugged at her skirt, "D-do these skirts really need to be this short…?"

Natsu stopped eating mid-bite and dropped his fork. "Wh-whoa…"

Lucy turned to Yukino and smirked with a thumbs up. "It's fine." She then turned to Natsu and the others and asked, "So what do you think?"

Natsu swallowed his food down and looked at the two in thought and grinned. "Looks good!"

Yukino turned to Lucy with a small smile.

"So, where to now?" Lucy asked.

Yukino answered, "We need to go to the client's residence."

The others nodded.

* * *

Eventually, Natsu and the others arrived at a modest cottage on the edge of the city.

"This is the place?" Happy asked curiously.

"Well…I think so," Natsu answered unsurely.

"Well, let's find out," Lucy added as she knocked on the door.

"U-uh, one moment," a voice from within answered.

As the door opened, Natsu and the others saw a tall, aged man with short, unkempt grey hair, a noticeably small, dark grey mustache just under his nose, and squinted eyes wearing a tattered green suit with a white shirt and red tie. "You must be the mages we hired," the man posited.

"We are," Lucy said happily.

"Oh thank goodness. My name is Kaby Melon," the man greeted. "Please, come inside."

* * *

Kaby and a woman with him with waist-length brown hair and squinted eyes wearing a tattered pink dress with vertical stripes and a green necklace led the group a rather roomy lounge with an L-shaped sofa in front of a coffee table that sat opposite a somewhat smaller sofa.

"So, where exactly is this book you want?" Lucy asked.

Kaby sighed heavily. "It's currently in the hands of a man named Everlue."

"So you just want us to get the book for you, right?" Natsu asked.

Kaby shook his head. "No, I want you to destroy it."

"Seriously?!" Lucy asked in surprise. "You're paying two hundred thousand Jewel for that?"

Kaby shook his head. "No, the reward has been increased to two million."

Lucy and the others gaped in shock.

"T-two million!?" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief. "Y-you really want this book destroyed, huh…?"

Kaby nodded.

"Why do you want it destroyed so badly?"

Kaby clasped his hands together tensely. "I simply can't allow it to exist."

The others frowned in thought as they looked at each other.

* * *

Later, Natsu, Lucy, Yukino, Flare, and Happy stood several paces away from a large, elaborate mansion with a gate encompassing the border.

"I guess that's Everlue's mansion," Lucy noted as they looked over the large structure.

"Most likely," Yukino added.

"So what now? We bust in there and burn up the book?" Natsu asked.

"No, you idiot!" chided Lucy. "Yukino and I will go up there, try to apply for the job and then look for that book."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so you're actually gonna go in there and work as this guy's maids?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"Well, duh," Lucy answered bluntly. "That's what the job was about from the beginning, remember?"

Natsu turned back to the mansion and tightened a fist slightly.

Yukino put one of her hands over Natsu's fist with a smile. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Natsu turned to her incredulously. "Alright, if you say so. But if I smell trouble I'm bustin' in there."

"You'll probably bust in no matter what," Lucy remarked snidely.

Yukino frowned at the blonde, annoyed. "Natsu knows when to be sneaky, like a ninja."

"Right…" Lucy answered incredulously. "Come on, let's go."

"Aye!" Happy cheered. "Be careful you two!"

* * *

Shortly later, the two stood in front of a large metal gate attached to a tall brick wall that surrounded an extravagant mansion.

"Okay… so we just ring this I guess," Lucy posited as they stood in front of a knocker attached to a button.

"Yeah," Yukino answered as she knocked several times.

However, moments after they did a large, grotesque woman with monstrous features and short pink burst up from the ground, startling them both. "You must be here because of my master's request for maids."

"Y – y – yes…" the two responded with trepidation.

"Oh master!" the beastly woman shouted.

At that moment a short, plump man with skinny arms and legs, sporting a curled mustache which directly protruded from his nostrils, as well as a bushel of wavy hair atop his round head, wearing a formal black suit, with his jacket fastened with a large gold button and adorned with a decorative red flower, beneath his jacket was a white collared shirt, a blue necktie and dark blue boots emerged from the ground as well. "Oh-hoh! So you two are the new maid candidates, are you? I am Everlue, master of this mansion."

The two shivered in discontent as the man walked towards them.

Everlue walked towards them and puts his hands on their chins to examine their faces, noticing the temperature rise sharply, before stepping back and sneering. "Tch, off with you."

"H – huh, why!?" Lucy argued in disbelief.

"I would never hire such hideous maids." The plump man was almost instantly surrounded by multiple maids of rather aberrant appearance. "I only hire the peak of perfection!"

Lucy and Yukino gaped in disbelief.

Lucy clenched a fist with a tic mark and angry smile. "Why you little…"

Yukino laughed weakly. "C – come on Lucy, let's go back…"

* * *

Shortly later, Lucy and Yukino joined back up with Natsu and Happy, Natsu feeling rather perturbed.

"Wow, he rejected you hard," Happy teased.

The two slumped their shoulders in dejection.

Natsu snarled and cracked his knuckles. "That midget's gonna get it."

Yukino put a hand on his and remarked, "It's okay Natsu, calm down. What he thinks isn't important."

"He insulted you both!"

Lucy sighed in frustration. "Well that plan was a total failure, so that really only leaves one option."

"We bring down the house!"

"No, you stupid cat!" Lucy rejected harshly. "We sneak in to get the book."

"Aww…" Happy pouted. "I want explosions…"

Natsu, a dark grin on his face, replied, "Oh you'll get 'em Happy."

"Oh great…" Lucy murmured. "He's lost control…"

Yukino merely sighed.

* * *

Shortly later, the group snuck towards the side of mansion.

"So, what's the plan?" Lucy asked. Looking around, she then posited, "Will we –?"

Her suggestions were cut short as Natsu merely barreled into the mansion, his fists alight with flame as he blasted a hole in the wall. "Banzai!"

"HHUUHH!?"

Yukino sighed and then added, "Well, might as well join in."

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Yay!" Happy cheered.

* * *

Once inside, Lucy looked around the extravagant mansion with awe and annoyance simultaneously. "So gaudy."

"Come on, let's find that –!" Natsu began but was interrupted by four of Everlue's maids who appeared around the group. He snarled and then shouted, "Out of my way ya ugly ogres!"

"No way!" the first maid rebutted.

Natsu, glaring with annoyed anger, demanded, "I said move."

The maids paled and immediately began running away in fright.

"W – wow…" Lucy muttered in shock.

"Natsu's really protective of those he cares about," Yukino explained. "He can get pretty scary when he's mad."

"Aye! Like that time with that crazy plant and Erza!" Happy shouted.

"Crazy plant? Wait, _the_ Erza?!" Lucy shouted in surprise.

"Yeah, heard of her?" Yukino asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, she sounds so cool! But, you know, I've never seen a picture of her. What's she like?"

"A wild animal?" Happy muttered in thought. "Or maybe just a full on monster." He then stiffened and turned slowly to see Natsu standing over him with a cruel grin.

With a feral grin, Natsu asked, "What did you call her Happy?"

Trembling, Happy answered, "U – uh… I, uh…"

Natsu grabbed him by the head and picked him up. "Come on, say it again. I dare ya."

"Wh – whoa… he really is scary…" Lucy muttered in surprise.

"Sh – she's a… good mother…?" Happy muttered in a weak lie.

"Bad cover up," Yukino remarked.

Natsu smiled. "You're right, she is."

"And Natsu's just dumb enough to buy it…" Lucy lamented.

"Yeah…" Yukino muttered in agreement. "He's really sweet, but he's kinda slow."

Suddenly, the gigantic maid burst up through the floor and landed on Natsu.

Lucy and Yukino gaped in shock before Natsu released a blast of flames and sent the maid slammed into the ceiling and then back onto the ground, unconscious.

"Go Natsu!" Happy cheered.

Lucy sighed. "Okay, now we need to find the library."

* * *

It did not take the group long to do so when they found a huge library filled with hundreds of books.

Lucy looked around in shock. "S – so many… how will we find one specific book in here…?"

"Why not just burn it all?" Natsu posited.

Lucy sighed and chided, "Because that'd be overkill."

"It'd also be fast."

Yukino put a hand on his. "Come on, let's try to find the right book."

"Fine…" After a short search Natsu saw a large book titled "Daybreak" lying on a pedestal. "Hey! I found it!" Natsu picked it up and prepared to burn it but was stopped by Lucy.

She widened her eyes and urged, "No, wait!"

"Huh? Why?"

"That book was written by the legendary Kemu Zaleon! I'm a huge fan of his books, I can't let the book be destroyed without reading it first!"

Everlue suddenly burst up through a hole in the ground and shouted, "How dare you break into my house!"

Natsu turned to the man and grinned deviously.

Lucy merely ignored him and started reading the book.

Everlue gaped and then growled. "Wha…?! You little brat, how dare you ignore me! Vanish Brothers, get out here and do what I pay you for!"

"Vanish Brothers?" Yukino asked with trepidation.

At that moment, two figures suddenly appeared in the room.

The first, smaller figure was a tall man with a mostly shaved head of black hair, in a queue style, slanted black eyes, and four red symbols tattooed on his face wearing a white tunic with a high collar, possessing dark stripes on the loose cuffs and flanking the fastener crossing the chest vertically, a pair of mildly loose dark green pants, getting tighter in correspondence to his ankles, and traditional, dark eastern-style shoes paired with light socks, holding a large frying pan. "I am the older brother."

The second, large figure, was an extremely tall man with long, dark blue, curly hair, which was arranged in a distinctive hairstyle, with four large, straight tufts jutting upwards on top of his head, getting smaller near their outer edges, with narrow black eyes wearing a red bandana with black markings on it, his outfit, unlike that of his brother, was western in look, consisting of a blue sweatshirt, with slightly puffy sleeves reaching below his elbows, adorned by wavy yellow markings on the shoulder and the sleeve areas, and bearing three light, diagonal stripes on each side of the torso, simple light blue pants and grey trainers. "And I am the younger brother."

"They look dumb," Natsu remarked flippantly.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. "This book… Natsu! Keep those guys busy while I try to discover this book's secret!"

"Alright!"

Everlue snarled in annoyance. "You annoying bint! I won't let you!" He then chased after the blonde, whom immediately began to outrun him.

"I'll help her," Yukino interjected, "you deal with them!"

"Gotcha!" Natsu retorted before turning to the Vanish Brothers.

"Tch, give up now, wizard. You're helpless against us," the older brother taunted.

"You wizards all focus on magic, but as a result, your bodies are frail," the younger brother added.

"So we developed techniques to nullify your magic!"

Natsu blinked in confusion and then began laughing loudly.

The older brother vanished with his frying pan instantly.

"Let's see how much you laugh against our Heaven and Earth Extinct Slaying Attack!" the younger brother shouted proudly.

Natsu looked around for the older brother. "The he –?"

However the younger brother surged forth, taking advantage of Natsu's distractedness, and kicked him hard. "If you look at the heavens, the earth will knock you down!"

Natsu hissed in irritation. "Tch, lucky shot!" He then began to attack the younger brother but the older brother appeared behind him and hit him with the frying pan.

"And if you try to stay on earth, the heavens will take you out!" the older brother chanted.

Natsu grunted in annoyance. "Fine, then I'll just even the odds!"

"Hah! And how do you plan on doing that!?"

Natsu then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.

"Like I'll let you do that!" the older brother remarked as he appeared behind Natsu, only for the pinkette to kick his foot back, nailing the older brother between the legs and knocking him down.

"Brother!" the younger brother shouted before charging at Natsu.

Natsu responded by launching the older brother at him before launching forward with a flame encased fist. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu bellowed as he struck the brothers, his flames bursting outwards violently, knocking the two down for good. "Tch, I didn't even get to summon Ophi. You guys suck, you know that!"

The younger brother merely coughed out a puff of smoke.

Natsu glanced to the side and saw that the monstrous maid was starting to glow and shimmer. "Oh no ya don't!" he shouted before jumping up and landing on her back as she vanished.

* * *

When he reopened his eyes, he looked around and realized he was in a new location, one with an endless night sky filled with stars. "Wait… where am I now…?"

The monstrous maid growled before grabbing him off her back. "Get off!" she shouted before throwing him down.

Natsu screamed as he fell before landing on the ground below.

He groaned in pain before sitting up and looking around. He realized he was sitting on a white brick pathway bordered by tall white pillars leading out to a large gazebo on one end and a large throne on the other.

"Oh? A visitor? How unusual," a female voice remarked.

Natsu turned and saw a young woman with long, wavy, flowing blonde hair that reached her knees, with multiple light blonde accents a long section of hair sticking out to one side with a blue-green tip and red eyes wearing a white tube top that exposed very little of her moderate bust, a short white skirt with multicolored accents that tied over her left hip, knee-high white, pink, and brown boots with red bows, shoulder-length brown and pink gloves with matching red ties, white wrist guards, a brown choker with a green jewel on the front, and a series of black straps over her shoulders and midsection walking towards him. He blinked in thought and asked, "Who the hell are you?"

The woman chuckled in amusement and answered, "I am Milla Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits."

"… Never heard of ya."

Maxwell folded her arms in thought and then explained, "I am the one who rules over all of the Celestial Spirits. Their queen, I suppose you could say."

"Uuhh…"

Maxwell sighed in thought. "Ah, you are in a guild, correct?"

Natsu nodded.

"I am similar to the guild master of the Celestial Spirits."

"Oohh… So you're the drunk old person in charge," Natsu remarked.

Maxwell blinked in thought. "Well I suppose by human standards of time I am old, I am also the one in charge, though I don't drink much alcohol."

"That's because you get tipsy from just a single sip," a new, playful voice remarked as a tall, slender woman with fair skin, long, wavy blue-green hair that parted at her forehead and draped down slightly past her chin on the front and seemed longer than her legs, pointed ears with blue tips, green-yellow eyes, and slightly above average-sized breasts wearing an extravagant outfit that consisted of a central, sleeveless blouse with a blue collar that had extensions going down to her feet, along with a cape that reached to her feet, blue and green, shin-high high-heeled boots that were attached to a small piece of white clothing covering her shapely bottom and front, and shoulder-length gloves with blue, green, and red rings on them floated down to the area with large, silver-blue, butterfly-like wings.

Maxwell pouted slightly. "You don't have to put it so bluntly, Muzet."

"Huh? Who are you?" Natsu asked.

With a smile, the winged woman answered, "I'm Milla's older sister, Muzet." Muzet turned to Maxwell and asked, "So, how did this one get here?"

"He happened to arrive here on Virgo's back," Maxwell explained.

"Interesting. Most humans would have died by now being exposed to the raw atmosphere of the Spirit Realm."

Natsu tilted his head curiously. "Is it because I'm a Dragon Slayer?"

Maxwell put a finger on her chin in thought. "Hhmm… perhaps. That aside, you should probably return home. But I'll give you a little gift as a reward for making it here, hm?"

"A gift?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Hold out your hand."

Natsu nodded and extended his hand, into which Maxwell placed a golden key with a red mark near the base and a shape that resembled a lion's head. "What are these?"

"This is the key to summon Leo, the Golden Lion. She currently has no Master, so I'll give her to you as a reward. Now, Muzet, send our little friend back to his home."

"Understood," Muzet answered as a sphere of energy appeared around Natsu and vanished, taking him with it.

* * *

Natsu found himself in a sewer tunnel full of holes and saw Yukino fighting the monstrous maid, handling herself marginally well, and then turned and saw Lucy, pinned to the ground with Everlue holding her arms.

"Alright you little brat! Tell me what the secret of Daybreak is or I'll break your arms!" Everlue threatened.

"Like I'll tell you!" Lucy retorted.

"Get off her!" Natsu shouted as he punched Everlue away from Lucy with a flaming fist. "You damn midget!"

"How dare you hit me!" Everlue growled. "Virgo, crush this fool!"

"Yes, Master," the monstrous maid, Virgo, responded.

"I still can't believe that thing's a Celestial Spirit!" Lucy shouted as Virgo swung at Natsu.

Natsu ducked under the attack before upper cutting Virgo with a flaming fist and then rearing his fist back. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He sent a punch at the monstrous Spirit that exploded on impact and caused Virgo to dispel. Natsu sighed in relief and then turned to Everlue. "There, now to pummel the midget."

Everlue paled in fear. "W – w – wait!"

"I don't like waiting," Natsu said with a cruel grin as he cracked his knuckles.

Lucy gaped as Natsu began beating Everlue brutally.

Yukino merely sighed.

Natsu sighed in relief as he finished beating Everlue. "There, all done." With a grin, he lit his hands with fire. "Now… let's burn it."

However, the mansion began rumbling violently.

"What now…?" Lucy asked in worry.

Yukino widened her eyes and exclaimed, "All the holes Everlue's been digging are about to topple the house!"

"Oh…" Natsu remarked before grabbing both Yukino and Lucy and leapt out through one of the holes in the ground.

"Wait for me!" Happy pleaded frantically as he followed the group.

Natsu jumped out of the hole with the girls right as the mansion collapsed, narrowly avoiding getting crushed.

"Too close…" Lucy moaned.

Natsu grinned. "You should be proud, Lucy."

"Why?"

"You're keeping up the Fairy Tail tradition of causing mayhem!"

Lucy sighed and urged, "Let's just get this book back to Kaby."

* * *

"We did it!" Natsu cheered as he and the others walked into Kaby's home.

"Y – you did?!" Kaby asked in surprise. However, his face turned sour when he noticed Lucy holding the book. "Wh – what?! I told you to destroy it, not bring it back!"

Lucy frowned slightly. "You should see this first. I know now why you wanted us to destroy it."

Kaby stiffened as she continued.

"To protect your father's legacy."

Kaby tensed and then sighed heavily. "Yes… Kemu Zaleon, or rather, Zekua Melon, was my father."

"But why? Why would you want to destroy your father's last work?"

"Because…" Kaby tightened his fists before sighing and explaining, "I harbored great resentment to my father, he left our family for over three years without any contact. Then, when he returned, he swore to never write again and amputated his writing hand. He died shortly thereafter, and my rage turned to remorse. So I wanted to destroy that book to save my father's honor as a great writer. Not have his last work be some aggrandizing nonsense he was forced to write by a self-obsessed maniac."

Lucy sighed as Kaby lit a match to burn the book.

"At least, with this, I can –" however, before he could burn the book, wind in the room suddenly blew through, putting out the match before the book opened on its own and the words in the book burst forth, rearranging themselves, the title also changing from "Daybreak" to "Dear Kaby". "Wh – what…?"

"I actually read the book before we brought it back," Lucy explained. "Your father, Zekua, was actually a mage, and he used Writing Magic to encode a message in the pages of that book. Even while Everlue had him slaving away at it, all he did was write that book especially for you, Kaby."

Kaby started reading the new contents of the book as his eyes widened and began to fill with tears.

After a moment, Natsu sighed and remarked, "Hey, Kaby, don't worry about that reward."

"WHAT!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Natsu!" Yukino shouted.

"The mission was to destroy the book, and we failed," Natsu explained. "It wouldn't be right to take the money for a failed job, it'd ruin Fairy Tail's name. Besides, he doesn't have enough money anyway."

Kaby stiffened and paled.

"Huh?" Lucy asked.

"I know what rich people smell like," Natsu explained. "They smell different than most people. He's not rich."

Kaby sighed heavily. "… Yes, you're right. I only rented this house so you people would believe I was wealthy and would help me with this task."

"You mean…?" Yukino trailed off, dismayed.

"Yes… I wouldn't have been able to pay you even if you destroyed the book."

Natsu patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it!"

Yukino and Lucy both slumped their shoulders in disappointment.

"Okay guys, let's go home!"

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

"… Aye…" Yukino and Lucy muttered in quiet despair.

As they walked out of the house, Lucy groaned in defeat. "Aw man… how am I gonna pay rent…?"

"How am I going to pay for my room…?" Yukino muttered in dissatisfaction as waterfall tears fell from her eyes.

Lucy blinked in thought. "Room? Where?"

"Fairy Hills. It's the dormitories near the guildhall."

"There are dorms?!"

"Yeah. The rent is a hundred thousand Jewel a month."

Lucy stiffened in shock. "W – wow… I can barely afford my seventy thousand Jewel a month rent…"

"Yeah… Why did I think going on this job with Natsu was a good idea…?"

"No idea…"

With a sigh, both bemoaned, "At this right I'll be out on the street."

Natsu stopped and turned to the side. "Hey, this way's a shortcut."

"Oh real –?" Lucy began but stopped when she saw that Natsu's supposed shortcut was a swamp, causing her to kick him. "You idiot! I'm not walking through that!"

Natsu outstretched his hands, causing black flames to emerge from his palms and form discs that floated above the ground. "Come on, hop on."

"Hhuuhh!? Are you crazy?! I'll get burned!"

Yukino immediately stepped up on one of the discs and sat down.

"What?!"

"Natsu has full control of these flames," Yukino explained. "They won't burn you."

Lucy gulped and then placed her hand on the disc of flames, widening her eyes. "Huh? It's not even hot." She then proceeded to sit on the disc in surprise. "Wow…"

Natsu then started walking through the swamp, his flames carrying the two girls as Happy floated behind him.

* * *

As Natsu walked out of the swamp, his flames still carrying the girls, he said, "Alright, we're through the swamp."

Lucy, whom had fallen asleep on the disc she was floating on, groaned as she woke up. "H – huh? Oh, sorry, I fell asleep."

Yukino giggled in amusement as she stepped off the disc when Natsu dispelled them, causing Lucy to hit the ground.

"Ready to go?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah…" Lucy remarked as she rubbed her bum before standing up.

Natsu then turned to the side suddenly and sent a blast of flame into the bushes.

Gray jumped from the bushes and landed nearby, annoyed. "What's your problem you dumbass?!"

"What are you doing in there?" Natsu asked with annoyance.

"Takin' a leak," Gray responded extremely quickly.

Natsu frowned slightly at the overly swift answer.

"You got a problem?"

"Yeah, you're lying."

"I am not, fire-spitter."

"Yes you are, ice-breather."

"Hothead!"

"Stripper!"

Yukino groaned in exasperation.

Gray huffed in annoyance as he turned away. "Tch, I don't have time for this crap. And if you're smart, you don't either."

"Huh?"

"Erza's on her way back, and I wouldn't want to be the one who arrives late."

A man with orange hair suddenly burst from the bushes and grabbed Happy.

"Happy!" Yukino shouted.

"Huh?!" Natsu growled.

"So they're back!" Gray shouted, readying his magic.

A second orange-haired man looked at Happy hungrily. "Aw man, I haven't eaten in days, let's hurry and fry him up!"

"HELP!" Happy shrieked.

"Let him go you creeps!" Natsu howled as he charged at them with flaming fists.

"Hu –?" the first mage grunted before getting sent flying by Natsu.

The two orange-haired mages sent out bolts of lightning, which Natsu easily dodged, and spin-kicked, taking out the two mages.

Gray formed his right hand into a fist and slammed it against his open left palm, the air around his hands freezing before he thrust his hands forward and shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" causing a magic circle to appear in front of him, sending out multiple arrows of ice that knocked out the remaining mages.

Natsu and Gray lined them up against a nearby tree and Gray froze them all against the tree.

"Okay, start talking, or else," Gray warned as Natsu lit up his hands with fire and a sadistic grin.

"Alright, alright, what do you want to know?!" the first orange-haired mage shouted fearfully.

"Who are you guys, and why were you digging up that old temple?"

"W – we… can't say…" the second orange-haired mage muttered timidly.

"Oh?" Natsu questioned as he cracked his knuckles. "How 'bout now?"

Another of the mages, a short goblin, shouted frightfully, "Eisenwald! We're with Eisenwald!"

"Dammit…" the first orange-haired mage lamented, "and we were so close to Lull –"

However, before he could finish his sentence, a giant hand made of shadow appeared from the distance, grabbed the tree, and pulled it and the mages, underground, crushing them.

"What the hell!?" Natsu exclaimed.

"Great…" Gray groaned, "come on, let's head back."

Sometime later, the group made their way back to the guild.

After looking around, Gray sighed in relief. "Good, we made it back before Erza."

"Yeah," Natsu added.

"I still don't know what I'm going to do about money…" Lucy lamented with a groan.

"I know…" Yukino concurred.

"Guess I'll just need to look for another job."

"Same here."

"Ah, you're back," Mirajane said happily as the two walked towards the bar. "How'd the job go?"

They both slumped their shoulders and groaned in frustration.

"That bad, huh? I'm guessing Natsu refused the payment again?"

The two cried waterfall tears.

Mirajane laughed lightly. "Thought so. His heart's in the right place. He thinks that if the job isn't completed exactly as requested then it's failed. It's just one of the many things Erza pounded into his skull."

"But…" Lucy argued weakly.

"Yeah, I know," a new voice added.

Lucy turned and saw a young, petite woman with long, elbow-length white hair that curled at the ends and bright blue eyes wearing a low-cut, light blue dress with white shoulder straps, a long, mid-calf-length white skirt with a long slit up the left side, up to her hips, a pink sash around her waist, elbow-length gloves, and blue sandals standing nearby, cleaning the bar with a rag.

"He really does mean well though."

"Right… uh, who are you again?" Lucy asked.

The white-haired woman smiled and answered, "I'm Mira's little sister Lisanna. And that big guy over there is Elfman, the middle sibling."

Lucy gaped in surprise as she looked at the large, boisterous man in the room before raising an eyebrow and turning to Mirajane. "Wait, you said Erza hammered that stuff into his head?"

Mirajane nodded. "Yes. When Natsu first arrived here, he was pretty skilled at fighting and a few basic skills, but he lacked certain qualities as a result of being raised by a dragon and a goddess."

"Eh…?"

Mirajane immediately covered her mouth in shock. "Oh no! Forget I said that, pretty please?"

"Why?"

"Natsu wants that to be a secret. Though he's never really said why," Lisanna explained.

Mirajane continued, "Anyway, after he brought her here, Erza took it upon herself to teach those things to Natsu. He wasn't exactly… receptive… at first. But after a while he started to actually enjoy his time with Erza. Her training in some of the basics of civil life escalated to her actually training him how to use a sword."

"Eh?" Lucy mumbled in disbelief.

Yukino nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You wouldn't think it by looking at him, but he's pretty skilled with it. Nowhere near as good as Erza but better than the average swordsman."

"He actually _has_ a sword?!"

"A couple," Lisanna added. "He has a really big one an old man gave him a while ago too. Strange thing is, Natsu's the only one who can lift it. Even Master can't."

"Huh?!"

"Yeah, even Erza tried and she couldn't get it to budge."

"Wow… oh, hey Mira, can I ask you about something?"

"Certainly," the white-haired beauty replied.

"We ran into some loonies who said they were from something called Eisenwald. What is that exactly?"

"A Dark Guild."

"Dark Guild?"

Mirajane nodded. "Yes. As you probably know, there are Mage Guilds all over Fiore. They are each run by guildmasters. These guildmasters answer to the Magic Council. The Council decrees and enforces all of the laws governing magical guilds. It's a guildmaster's job to see to it that his or her guild follows and obeys the laws of the Council. However there are some guilds that violate or simply refuse to obey the Council's laws. These guilds are called Dark Guilds, and their members Dark Mage's. Eisenwald is one such guild."

"I see…"

"What'd you say to me ice-brain?!" Natsu suddenly shouted.

"Great, they're at it again," Cana groaned.

However, at that moment, Loke burst through the door. "Bad news!"

"You're coming out?"

"No! Erza's back!"

However, a calm, authoritative voice behind him, suddenly chided, "And why, pray tell, is that bad?"

"Eek!" Loke shouted as he jumped up in surprise.

Behind him was a beautiful young woman with long, scarlet red hair that reached her waist and brown eyes who was wearing a simple armor with a breastplate composed of a single piece of metal that did little to disguise the generous bosom underneath, decorated with curved lines and a deformed, yellow, Cercelee cross, with the cross's right arm extended to the right side of her armor, with the shorter left arm covering a red marking underneath, large and detailed shoulder guards, a waist guard composed of simply of two elaborate plates hanging from a simple belt over a thinner pair of plates circling her waist, plated gauntlets that extended up to her elbows, covered by elbow guards adorned by protruding metal ornaments reminiscent of feathers, a prominent, armored collared circling her neck and leaving the front side open, a short blue skirt, and long, knee-high, black, leather boots, carrying a massive horn on her back.

"Erza!" Natsu shouted excitedly.

The redhead, Erza, slammed the horn down with a loud crunch.

"Wh – whoa… the whole atmosphere's changed…" Lucy remarked before looking at Erza in thought. ' _S-so pretty…!_ '

Erza then turned to Mirajane. "I have returned. Is the Master here?"

""Welcome back!" the white-haired woman chirped. "The master's at a conference, he left this morning."

"What is that humongous thing, Erza?" Macao asked.

"The horn of a monster I subdued," Erza explained. "The locals decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir. Is it a problem?"

"No, not in the least!"

Wakaba then muttered, "I bet she's heard about what happened at Mt. Hakobe."

"O – oh crap… I'm a goner," Macao mumbled in fear.

"Listen up!" Erza ordered, causing everyone in the room to freeze. "On the road, I heard that Fairy Tail has been causing yet more trouble. The Master may forgive you, but I will not!" She then began, one by one, shooting each of them down. She first turned to Cana and shouted, "Cana!" causing the tanned woman to drop her drinking barrel, "How dare you drink dressed like that!"

"Why?" Cana rebutted.

"It is disgraceful to have you running around showing off like that."

"Tch, you just don't want me to take a certain someone's eyes off you."

Erza glared dangerously. "What was that?"

"N – nothing…"

Next was a slim young man with long brown hair kept in a low ponytail, two long, curved bangs over his face, dark eyes, and a prominent frown who wore a dark, close-fitting dancing suit with grey, rounded, outlined areas on it that covered all but his head.

"Vijeeter," Erza motioned.

"Yes?!" the man stammered in the middle of a dance pose.

"Dance outside! Wakaba, I see cigarette butts on the floor. Nab," an extremely tall, heavily muscular and massive young man with straight, black hair styled in a bob cut, with a light colored band circling it on the top, two curved bangs emerging from under it, prominent lips on a squared face, bandages on his cheeks, his shoulders adorned by white, tattoos consisting of several circles on both shoulders, in distinctly tribal attire froze fearfully, "I see you're dawdling in front of the request board as usual. Just pick one!" She then turned to Macao. "Macao!" the man flinched in response. However, rather than speak, she just sighed in frustration.

"Say something!" he shouted anxiously.

Erza then rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "Honestly, you cause too much trouble. But I will be kind and say nothing today."

Lucy sighed with a prominent sweat bead on the back of her head. "But you've said so much already." "What is she, a disciplinarian?"

"That's Erza for you," Happy remarked.

"Still, even if she is kind of a loudmouth, she looks like an actually mature person. Surely there's no reason to be so afraid of her?"

Erza then turned her glance to the blonde. "Are Natsu and Gray here?"

"Yeah Erza?" Natsu asked.

""H – Hi, Erza!" the half-naked teen shouted in fear, "We're good buddies as usual!"

Natsu flattened his brow.

"I heard about something bad on my last job," Erza explained. "Normally I would consult Master Makarov about something like this first, but I believe this is a matter of utmost urgency."

"What is it?"

""I want your help, will you come with me? Both of you."

The two twitched an eyebrow and then shouted in unison, "I refuse to go on a mission with _him_! Hey! Stop copying me!"

"Stop copying Natsu-Sama!" Juvia demanded to Gray.

"I need you BOTH for this mission. Understood?" Erza demanded dangerously.

"Aye, sir!" both answered frightened.

"Why is Natsu acting like Happy?!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

"Minerva, your magic could be useful as well," Erza added.

"Oooohh…" Juvia groaned. "What about Juvia?! She wants to go on a mission with Natsu-Sama too!"

"Like I'd let you puddle girl! I'm going on that mission with Natsu!" Flare rebutted.

"You stay away from Natsu-Sama you flaming pervert!"

"What'd you call me!?"

"You heard me firecracker!"

"Enough!" Erza interrupted bluntly. "Neither of you will be going on this mission. Understood?"

"HUH!?" they both gasped in shock.

"This mission does not call for a team that large."

"But Natsu needs my flames to fight!" Flare argued.

"And Natsu-Sama needs Juvia's love!" Juvia added.

"I think it'd be fun to bring everyone along," Natsu added with a grin.

Erza remained in silence for a moment before sighing. "Fine, you two can come along. But do not get in the way."

"Right!" both cheered before blinking, turning to each other, and glaring.

Erza sighed whilst Natsu grinned.

Mirajane gasped in thought as she watched the events before her. "This could very well be the strongest Fairy Tail team ever assembled." After a moment of thought she then turned to Lucy. "Hey, Lucy, why don't you go along too to see if you can stop those four from fighting too much?"

Lucy nodded. "Okay."

* * *

The group of Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Minerva, Juvia, Flare, and Gray arrived at the train station shortly and were preparing for the ride.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!"

Oh yeah, Happy was there too.

"You're so nice…"

Lucy had a collection of her own bags, as did Natsu and the others. The one who surprised her, however, was Erza.

Namely because Erza had a cart the size of the guild hall.

Lucy looked at the massive cart of bags and blinked in shock. "What…is all that stuff?"

Erza looked up at the stack plainly and answered simply, "Merely items I feel are necessary for the trip."

Lucy sweat-dropped and nodded weakly.

Natsu, however, noticed the odd sweet smell emanating from the cart.

* * *

Sometime later, as the group sat on the train, headed towards the destination of their mission, with both Natsu and Juvia getting nauseous from motion sickness.

Lucy looked at Juvia in confusion and asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's a Dragon Slayer like Natsu," Gray explained. "Water Dragon Slayer to be exact."

"Eehh!?"

Flare smiled as Natsu wobbled from side to side before putting a hand behind his hand, gently laying him down on her lap, and stroking his hair as he fell asleep.

Juvia twitched an eyebrow before turning green.

Minerva sighed and waved a hand, causing a portal to open in front of Juvia which the woozy Dragon Slayer threw up into.

"Th – thank you… Minerva…" Juvia offered with gratitude.

"Yes, yes," Minerva eased as she patted Juvia's back before chopping the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.

"Whoa… what was that you did just now?" Lucy asked.

"It's my magic, Territory. It allows me to open up portals in any location, so long as I can see it."

"Wow…"

"Alright, I suppose it is time to inform you all of the mission's details," Erza began.

Lucy nodded. "Oh yeah, that's right, you haven't told us what it is yet." She then froze. ' _Oh no! I agreed to this mission without even knowing what it's about! And knowing this guild it's something insane and dangerous!_ '

"Our mission is simple: we are going to stop the plans of a Dark Guild known as Eisenwald. They are planning on using something called Lullaby for some unknown purpose. However, I can guarantee it is something dangerous as their leader, Erigor, also known as 'the Reaper' is involved and heading their mission. I overheard this while on my last job, and knowing the reputation of Erigor, there is only one course of action."

Lucy gulped and asked, "What?"

Erza answered sternly, "We are going to launch an assault on Eisenwald's headquarters."

"WWWHHHAAATTT!?"

Erza sighed and then looked at the group. "However, I know that I am not strong enough to take on an entire guild on my own, so that's why I asked for your help. Our first stop on the way will be Onibus Town."

Lucy sighed heavily and said weakly, "I'm dead."

Minerva smirked in anticipation.

Nearby, a man in a white coat narrowed his eyes as he overhead their discussion.

"Hey…" Lucy mumbled as she looked around, "aren't we missing someone…?"

Happy looked around and then froze as the train started up

"Natsu and Juvia!" they shouted in unison.

* * *

Natsu was lying on the train, drooling and moaning all over himself, Juvia lying unconscious in the opposite seat, as a tall man with black hair pulled back in a pineapple-shaped haircut with dark eyes and wearing a white coat over a black shit with light blue pants and black shoes walked over to the two of them.

"Well, well, look at this. Tell me something, do you know the name we have for you legal guild members?" he asked, getting no response. Annoyed he reached down and grabbed Juvia by the collar. "Flies. All of you, Fairy Tail Flies, has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" He then reached a hand out towards her but felt something grab his wrist.

"Dont. You. Dare," Natsu warned coldly.

"When did you –?!" he attempted to retort but Natsu sent him flying into the opposite wall.

"Asshole. I won't let you touch Juv –!" Natsu began to shout but was interrupted as the train started moving once more, enacting his motion sickness.

The dark-haired man looked at him bewildered and then laughed loudly. "Oh, wow! This is pathetic! You've got motion sickness this bad?! This is hilarious!" He then grinned darkly and kicked Natsu in the face. "Killing you will be easy!" He aimed his hand at Natsu and shouted, "My name is Kageyama, a member of Eisenwald, now die! Knuckle Shadow!" The shadow around Kageyama's feet began to twist and reshape before a fist made of shadows launched from his feet and slammed into Natsu's weakened form, sending him flying across the train car.

Kageyama was about to continue his assault when the train came to sudden stop, causing something to fall out of Kageyama's pocket.

* * *

Back at the station, Lucy gaped as Erza had forced her way to the control room and pulled the emergency stop to halt the train. She turned to the remainders of her group and ordered, "Let's go, we have to catch up to the train."

* * *

Kageyama growled before he was hit by a torrent of water.

Juvia, still uneasy from motion sickness, threatened, "Don't… touch… Natsu-Sama!" She then blinked when she saw a strange looking flute with a skull on the top, with three eyes on it. She then turned to Natsu. "Are you alright Natsu-Sama?!"

Natsu nodded and then stood up with a smirk and looked at Kageyama. "Alright Doggymama, time to go down."

"It's Kageyama you imbecile!" the shadow-user shouted incensed. He then noticed Juvia looking at the flute and tensed before grabbing it.

Natsu rushed in with his right hand enflamed. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He slammed his flaming fist at Kageyama.

The shadow-using Dark Mage raised his hands and shouted, "Guard Shadow!" A dome of shadows formed around Kageyama, defending him against Natsu's attack, if just barely.

Juvia stood up and turned to Natsu. "Natsu-Sama, let us both finish him."

Natsu nodded.

"You won't stop me!" Kageyama challenged as multiple shadows rose up.

At that moment, Juvia and Natsu both slammed their fists together, Juvia's swirling with water and Natsu's with fire, causing a large magic circle to appear in front of them, before placing their fists in front of their mouths, and taking in a big breath.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu howled as a massive torrent of fire soared at Kageyama.

"Water Dragon Roar!" Juvia shouted as a surge of water shot at Kageyama as well.

The two attacks hit simultaneously, exploding violently and destroying most of the train car.

A voice was then heard over the train's communication system. "I do apologize passengers, the stop was merely a false alarm, we will begin moving again immediately."

"Crap!" Natsu cursed as the train began moving again, before he grabbed Juvia and jumped out.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted as she and the others drove up near the train on a magic four-wheeler.

Natsu threw Juvia to the group, Minerva catching her, before landing atop the four-wheeler, his head slamming into Gray's, the two grunting as their heads collided.

Erza stopped the car as the train drove off. She sighed as Natsu and Gray jumped of the top of the car and down to the ground. She then removed a clamp from her right arm and looked at the two of them. "Are the two of you unhurt?"

Gray rubbed the top of his head in annoyance. "Yeah, though I'm sure I lost a few brain cells thanks to a certain fire-breather slamming into my skull."

Natsu growled and retorted, "There weren't very many to lose! Besides, it wasn't my fault!"

"Enough!" Erza intervened.

"Eep!" Gray and Natsu shrieked in unison.

Erza sighed in frustration and then looked at Natsu. "Honestly, you should be more careful Natsu."

"R – right…" Natsu responded remorsefully.

"Now, why don't you explain what happened?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, Juvia was attacked by this weird guy who controlled shadows."

Juvia added, "He dropped a weird flute, Juvia tried to grab it but he got away."

Erza nodded slowly. "I understand, did you catch his name?"

Natsu rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm…Doggymama? No…Applefarmer?"

"Juvia's fairly certain he said his name was Kageyama," Juvia added.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Kageyama… wait, he is a member of Eisenwald!"

Natsu tilted his head. "Eiffel-who?"

"Natsu!"

"Aye?!"

"Why did you let him get away?! Were you not listening when I gave the details of the mission?!"

' _They were asleep…_ ' Minerva thought silently.

Lucy then blinked curiously. "Wait, Juvia, you said the guy dropped a flute?"

Juvia nodded. "Yeah, so what? You want it to play music?"

"Not a chance! No, I thought I had heard the name Lullaby before, now I know where. Lullaby is a magical flute that was supposedly created by the dark mage Zeref, it's a death flute."

Erza grit her teeth in frustration. "Curses. It is my fault. If I had been more aware we would have seen the enemy sooner and taken the flute." She then jumped back on the four-wheeler as she attached the clamp to her arm.

* * *

The train that the group had been on arrived at a new station, Kunugi Station, and the patrons began to slowly climb out of the cars. However, their peaceful departure was halted when a group of people walked up to the cars, the apparent leader of the group being an extremely tall man with spiky silver hair which is held pointing upwards in spiky strands on top of his head, but hangs down to the left side of his face in a distinctive tuft, covering part of his face, black eyes with no eyebrows, numerous blue tattoos covered his face and bare torso, he also wore a long, worn hakama, a short, black, tattered cloth over that, and an equally worn white cloth used as a belt, and a black scarf on his shoulders, geta sandals, and black gloves with 'X' markings on the back and bandages going up his arms. His most distinctive feature, however, was the large, curved, serrated scythe he carried.

The people looked at the man warily before he raised his scythe and pointed it at the train. "Everyone onboard this train, get lost! This train belongs to Eisenwald!"

The people began to murmur and argue.

The man sneered and raised his scythe, bringing its blade parallel to the ground, and swiped it in front of him.

The top half of one of the cars was then sheared off and fell to the side.

He chuckled darkly. "How 'bout now?"

The people slowly and fearfully left the train as the Dark Guild embarked before the train started moving again.

Kageyama walked up to the man and knelt down, handing him the twisted-looking flute. "Erigor, I've brought the Lullaby."

Erigor smirked darkly as he looked at the flute.

* * *

In another town in Fiore, Clover Town, a group of people were in a large building with multiple floors. The building was serving as the meeting ground for the Guild Master Conference, where all of the leaders of the Legal Guilds in Fiore meet and discuss the current situations amongst themselves and the Dark Guilds.

Three guild masters in particular were discussing the actions of one specific guild.

The first was an elderly, bald, cross-dressing man wearing a purple, spaghetti-strap dress, striped pink and purple shorts, a gold, hoop necklace, red lipstick and blush on both cheeks, and small white wings on his back. He was Bob, guild master for Blue Pegasus.

The second was a slim, older man with a squared face that had several wrinkles, dark blonde hair that reached his shoulders and was straight cut, who wore dark sunglasses that covered his eyes, a plain black T-shirt and pants as well as a tall hat with a wide brim and a torn top that slumped backwards. He was Goldmine, guild master for Quattro Cerberus.

The third was an extremely short, elderly man with black eyes, balding white hair, and a thick mustache. He wore a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail symbol on the front, an orange hoodie, matching orange shorts, pointed shoes, and a blue and orange striped jester hat. This was Makarov, guild master for Fairy Tail.

Bob laughed in a very effeminate tone before asking in the same tone, "So Makarov, how are those cuties in Fairy Tail doing?"

Makarov nodded in return and answered proudly, "Well as usual. We've had a few…slip-ups, with the Council recently but nothing we can't handle."

Goldmine chuckled in amusement. "I hear your guild members have been causing more destruction than the enemies they fight recently."

Makarov brushed off the remark with a loud laugh. "Well, they're young."

Bob gave a very loud laugh before adding, "Yes…I would _loove_ to meet that youthful man again."

"Well, who knows. You might get the chance."

A small blue bird then flew in the window and landed in front of Makarov, dropping off a letter in front of him.

Makarov blinked in confusion as he picked it up. "What's this?"

He opened the letter and a magical hologram of Mirajane appeared.

"Oh my, Mira's grown so much in the past few years," Bob commented emphatically.

The recording then said, "Hello Master, I hope you're doing well at the conference. I just thought I'd let you know great news. Fairy Tail could very well have its strongest team ever formed. Erza, Natsu, Gray and a couple others have formed a team to handle a mission. Anyway, that's all."

Bob and Goldmine looked speechless. Though Bob fixed that swiftly. "My, my, how impressive."

The two then looked, rather confused, at the trembling form of Makarov.

Bob poked his shoulder and asked, "Makarov…what's wrong?"

Makarov answered weakly, "Those three…together…they could…destroy an entire city…this is bad…"

* * *

 **And that brings this chapter to a close. I hope everyone enjoyed it, if you did, be sure to leave a review. If you were confused, unsure, or curious about anything, leave a review about that and I will do my best to address it. If you did not enjoy it, feel free to leave a review but I would suggest you utilize your time for something you enjoy instead. But, for now, buh-bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

 **Hello and greetings to all! Yes, as you can see, I have returned with yet another chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I would like to believe that all of you, or at least most of you, enjoyed the previous chapter. Regardless, I hope that the majority of you enjoy this chapter as well. As usual, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help in creating this story. Right, so how about we move on to the reviewer responses?**

 **jwadd2: You need not worry, they will appear soon enough.**

 **Jalis: Aaww, what's not to like about NaLu? But glad you like the others. Yeah, her powers being what they were was never really explained, so her being a Water Dragon Slayer made the most sense to me.**

 **TheWhiteTitan: No. They are Milla Maxwell and Muzet from Tales of Xillia. So do not worry, they are not from Rave Master. It might be. Or it could be something entirely different.**

 **FanFictionHunter: ... Well this is embarrassing. Yes, it seems I screwed up big on that one. That is actually the first time I can recall that happening in any of my stories.**

 **Looks like that is it. So, without further adieu, let us begin.**

* * *

Erza drove a magic four-wheeler with Natsu, Lucy, Juvia, Flare, Minerva, Happy, and Gray inside when she stopped it at the crest of a hill overlooking the small Kunugi Station.

Erza stepped out and stumbled slightly, but Natsu stopped her from falling. She pushed herself up and asserted, "I am fine." She turned to several people in military uniforms nearby and asked, "What is going on here? Why are the Rune Knights here?"

One them explained, "Eisenwald has hijacked the train and taken it to Oshibana Town. The Rune Knights were sent to deal with them."

Erza hissed in frustration and immediately jumped back onto the four-wheeler.

"Whoa, where are we going now!?" Lucy asked.

Erza grit her teeth as she drove. "Fools, sending in the Rune Knights after a Dark Guild like Eisenwald… they do not stand a chance."

"Are these guys really…that powerful?"

"Yes. They're one of the highest guilds in the Barram Alliance."

"The who-do-whatnow?"

"Not important."

* * *

On the train, with Eisenwald, Erigor stood over Kageyama, holding Lullaby.

After taking a moment to enjoy having the flute he turned a very irritated scowl to Kageyama. "I understand you fought a Fairy Tail Fly on your way here."

Kageyama began to sweat and tried to keep his cool. "Ah… y – yes… but it's no problem. They only saw Lullaby for a split-second."

Erigor's eyes widened as his fists clenched. "You let a Fairy Tail Fly see Lullaby and escape alive!? What the hell's wrong with you?!" Erigor raised his scythe up angrily.

Kageyama fell backward in fear. "Wait, Erigor, please!"

Erigor then swept the scythe across the aisle and in front of Kageyama.

Kageyama sat, trembling silently before reaching up and clutching his ear, Erigor having sliced a piece off in anger.

"That's your punishment for screwing up," Erigor threatened darkly, "screw up again and next time, it'll be your head."

Kageyama nodded his head weakly. "R-right…sir."

"Tch, what a pain in the ass. Now we have to wipe out all these Fairy Tail Flies before they can tell anyone else what we're planning. I think you all can agree that it's important we teach these flies a lesson."

The rest of the guild nodded in agreement, Kageyama still clutching his bleeding ear.

* * *

Erza drove at high speeds through the streets of Oshibana Town towards the station where Eisenwald was waiting.

Inside the four-wheeler, Happy sat with a thoughtful and strained look on his face. "Hmm… what was it…?"

Flare turned to him and asked, "What's wrong, Happy?"

Happy looked at Lucy weakly. "Ahhh… I was supposed to tell Lucy something. It was important… but now I can't remember what it was."

Lucy slumped her shoulders weakly. "Why am I not surprised…?"

Natsu and Juvia merely leaned out the window about to hurl.

Erza stopped the four-wheeler suddenly.

"H – huh…?" Natsu mumbled.

"There is something happening at the station, let's investigate," Erza ordered before getting out of the four-wheeler, only to stumble slightly again. ' _Dammit… I have used too much magic power already… no matter… I must keep going…_ '

Minerva turned to her curiously. "Erza?"

"Let's go."

Natsu frowned slightly but nodded as they ran towards the station.

Erza cursed under her breath. "Why has the army allowed such a large crowd to gather?"

Erza forced her way through the crowd, Lucy and the others behind her, apologizing for Erza's forcefulness.

Eventually they made their way through the crowd and to the guards around the station.

Erza wasted not a moment before she grabbed one of them by the lapels and demanded, "What is going on here?!"

Fearfully, the man responded, "I – I don't know! The Rune Knights went in about twenty minutes ago and haven't come back out!"

Erza threw the man down roughly and forced her way past the others.

One of the other guards attempted to stop her. "Ah, miss, you can't-!"

"Try and stop me!"

The man nearly wet himself.

Lucy walked by the man and offered an apologetic smile. "We're with Fairy Tail."

The man just nodded dumbly as the group walked past them.

* * *

After making it inside the station, Natsu snarled at what he saw. Multiple Rune Knights strewn across the aisle like ragdolls.

"Fools," Erza chided. "That is what they get for taking on an entire magical guild with just a few dozen men."

Lucy gaped as she saw the defeated men. "This is horrible…"

"Magical guilds, as I hope you've seen, are not to be trifled with. _Especially_ Dark Guilds since they don't follow laws and regulations set down by the Council. So only sending a few dozen soldiers against an entire guild's population is suicide. Now, let's get going."

* * *

It did not take long before they reached the top of the long staircase and found themselves face to face with Eisenwald, Erigor at the forefront.

"There you are," Erza remarked as she and the others entered the lobby.

"Looks like a douche," Flare snarled.

Erigor turned around as he heard Erza's voice. "Ahh…if it isn't the Fairy Tail Flies. How good of you to arrive. Now you can have the front row seat to Eisenwald's glorious victory over the fools who live in the light."

"What are your plans here, Erigor?" Erza demanded.

Erigor chuckled lightly before laughing loudly. "You really wanna know?! Fine! Tell me, what is one thing this station has that no other buildings in the area do!"

"Trains?" Natsu replied plainly.

"No you halfwit! Urgh… are all Fairy Tail Flies this stupid?"

Erza pointed her sword, which appeared in a flash of light, at Erigor. "I see… the PA system."

Erigor laughed again, triumphantly. "Yes… you're not too bad. That's right. We will use this station's communications system, which broadcasts all across the town, and play Lullaby to everyone here. Then they will suffer for their ignorance of living in the privileges and safety of the light, while knowing all too well that there are others who do not have such rights."

Erza narrowed her eyes and then shot back, "The people who are in such a situation put themselves there."

Lucy then asserted, "Yeah! Besides, doing this isn't a way to get back your rights! All you'll do is engender sadness and pain!"

Erigor looked at Lucy confused and then guffawed in response. "Oh that's rich! Come on, do you _really_ think I'm doing all this, going through all this trouble, so I can get my rights back? What foolishness. No… I don't want rights and privileges, I want power. The reason…I s because those with power make the rules and get to rewrite history any way they see fit!"

"Victor's Justice you mean," Erza retorted.

"Not too shabby. Yeah, that's a good way to put it."

Kageyama then shouted, "You really shouldn't care anyway, because you won't see the age of the Dark Guilds. All you'll see…is the afterlife!" One of his shadows then shot forward at Lucy.

The shadows were immediately swallowed into a vortex and vanished.

"The hell?!"

"Sorry, I can't let you do that," Minerva retorted with a smirk. "I will let you have that attack back though."

"Hu –?" Kageyama grunted before another vortex appeared next to him, causing his own attack to remerge and strike him. He landed and hissed before sinking into the ground in a shadow.

After a moment, Erigor chuckled and then started to float on air. ' _Wonderful…the Fairy Tail Flies have fallen right into my trap._ '

Erza huffed as he flew away. "Natsu, Gray, go after him!"

Both nodded in agreement and chased after Erigor, Flare following shortly behind.

"Hey!" one of the Eisenwald members shouted. "Don't forget about us!"

Lucy then turned to the large group of mages in front of them and gulped. "Okay… so that leaves me… Erza… Juvia… and Minerva to fight the rest of these guys… oh boy…"

"How boring," Minerva muttered in irritation.

"Huh!?"

Juvia pouted before lamenting, "Why couldn't Juvia go? You two are overkill enough for these wimps."

One of the mages sneered in annoyance. "You gotta be kiddin', we're just fightin' a bunch of chicks!"

Another of the mages shrugged and added with a smirk, "Hey, look at the bright side, at least we can have some fun after we're done with this dump."

This remark, however, earned them all vehement glares from Juvia, Erza, and Minerva.

Minerva raised her hands, causing many portals to open amongst the group, releasing massive explosions at the same time.

"Water Dragon Roar!" Juvia shouted before sending out a cascade of water that beat down even more of the group.

Erza huffed in displeasure. "Hmph, there are still several left. Requip: The Knight!" Erza frowned and raised her hands as her body was bathed in light.

The Eisenwald members looked at her confused before a few of them began to come to a horrifying realization.

Soon her normal attire was gone and was replaced with armor that seemed to have almost every piece made of a silvery metal with only a small breastplate that was composed of feather-shaped plates that pointed upwards, which barely covered her bust, with a large metal flower on the front that extended to her hips along her sides, her biceps being covered with metal straps, along with very large plated gauntlets which had feather-shaped plates at the edges, her waist was encircled by large, decorative plates reminiscent of feathers that formed a long skirt, as well as a pair of plated boots which were partially hidden by her skirt, each having small, ornamental wings, a neck guard made of feather-like plates, a tiara with prominent wings, causing some of her hair to cover her left eye, her armor lastly having large metal wings.

Several of the Eisenwald members lurched back. "Oh no…it's _her._ "

"Titania Erza!"

"Heaven's Wheel!" Erza announced. Erza approached the group and a circle of swords appeared around her. "Dance, my blades!" The circle of blades begin spinning, forming a disc before she sent the spinning disc of blades flying at the enemies. "Circle Sword!"

The attack reached the center of the group and burst outward, taking out the remaining enemies.

As the group fought, a single Eisenwald member cowered and ran off, hiding inside of a specialized magic circle.

"Wh – whoa…" Lucy mumbled in shock.

Erza returned to her normal attire and added, "We still have one of them running around. Lucy, Juvia, Minerva, you three go after him."

All three nodded and left with Happy in tow.

After they left, Erza stumbled and dropped to her knees. ' _Damn… I… used too much mana… I should have let Minerva drive…_ '

* * *

Gray and Natsu ran down a corridor looking for Erigor when they came upon a split in the path.

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "So…which way do we go?"

Gray looked at him annoyed. "We split up, you moron."

"Hey! Erza told us to look for Erigor, not to split up!"

"She's not here right now, so I think we can do this safely."

"You want to defy Erza?!"

"No you idiot! If we split up we can catch him faster! If we stay together it'll take twice as long to find him! Would you rather piss her off because we failed to catch him or because we didn't do it exactly how she wanted?!"

"Alright, so which way will you go?"

"Why are you asking which way _I'll_ go?"

"So I can take the opposite route."

Gray gaped. "That's not an insult you halfwit, that's how it's _supposed_ to work!"

"Ggaahh, just pick one!"

"Fine! I'll take the broadcast room. If Erigor's gonna play that song to everyone, then he'll do it from there."

Natsu nodded in return and went the opposite direction. A few seconds later though, Natsu turned and shouted, "Hey Gray, don't die!"

Gray just gave a thumbs up. "Not plannin' on it fire breath!"

* * *

Gray made his way towards the broadcast room and knocked open the door and looked around. "What the…? Nobody's here."

"Yeah, except _us_ ," a voice droned.

Gray turned around and saw a tanned skin man with narrow black eyes who wore a distinctive jacket that was mostly yellow with the top part being yellow and dark blue, a tight hood over his head, a white shirt, green pants, black shoes, and black bands around all of his fingers.

Gray tensed up and threw off his shirt as the man prepared for battle as well. "So, this was a trap then."

The man chuckled. "Oh… this was _all_ a trap. And now I, Rayule of Eisenwald, will be your death!" He slung his hands forward and the black bands extended into long black threads that lunged towards Gray.

"Crap!" Gray ducked to the side as the attacks landed and slid to the side. He balled up his right fist and placed it into his left palm, the air around the space chilling, and shouted, "Ice-Make Shield!" He thrust his left hand forward and a half-snowflake shaped shield burst from the ground.

Rayule swung his threads forward and slammed straight through the shield.

"What?!"

"Nice try!"

Gray jumped to the side and formed his Ice-Make pose again, and then shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" A magic circle formed in the air with long arrows shooting out of it and towards Rayule.

The band-using mage jumped out of the way and swung his hands around and attempted to wrap his bands around Gray's feet.

Gray jumped over the attack and then formed the Ice-Make pose and shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" Again he launched the attack, which Rayule easily blocked. However, Gray smirked in response.

Rayule turned around just in time to see one more lance coming at him from behind. He ducked and then threw up his bands to smash it.

Gray growled in frustration. "Hey buddy, you mind tellin' me why you're crazy boss isn't in here?"

Rayule snickered before throwing his bands forward again.

"Grr…" Gray then threw out, "Ice-Make: Block!" A large block of ice appeared and blocked the bands, but wasn't smashed through.

Rayule retracted his bands and chuckled. "You really wanna know that badly, huh?"

* * *

Erza sighed and then looked outside. "I have to warn the civilians, with all of this dark magic being thrown around they're in danger."

She ran out of the main station and out towards the crowd around the building.

"Everyone! Listen! You need to get out of here, there is a Dark Guild inside this building and the dark magic they're using is extremely dangerous!"

Everyone looked at her confused and then began to scatter as the wind picked up.

Erza raised an eyebrow and then looked behind her in shock as a large tornado had enveloped the building. "Wh – what is that…?!"

"Like it do you, Fairy Tail Fly?"

Erza turned around and came face to face with Erigor.

"You! What are you doing outside the building?!"

Erigor merely chuckled in response. "Heh, you fools didn't really think my plan was that simple and stupid, did you?"

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"You'll never escape this Wind Wall, until it's too late!" With that, Erigor sent a blast of wind at Erza and knocked her through the prison and in to the other side.

Erza stood up and ran over to the swirling wall of wind and slammed her fist against it in aggravation. "No! Erigor!" However, the wall burst back with a blast of wind and sent her hurtling backwards. She scowled in anger before making her way back into the station to warn the others.

* * *

Outside the Wind Wall, Erigor chuckled to himself. "Now…to get going to the real target."

* * *

Rayule and Gray continued their standoff, though Gray's expression had morphed into a far angrier glare. "You bastards!"

Rayule merely laughed at him. "You're surprised!? Did you really think we'd waste something as powerful as Lullaby on a bunch of weak-ass civilians?! No way, we're headed straight for the top, the Guild Masters! The whole deal with this pathetic little station was just get you flies out of the way!"

"Why you…Ice-Make: Floor!" The floor itself suddenly turned to ice and Rayule lost his balance as a result.

"Crap!" Rayule flung his bands up and caught himself on a piece of the ceiling.

Gray then smirked as Rayule landed on an unfrozen part of the floor. "You see buddy, there's something you should realize."

"Huh?" Rayule mumbled before looking down at his feet and gasping.

"Freeze!"

The ice then extended forward and covered Rayule's entire body, freezing him solid.

"There are some guilds that are more fearsome than the Dark Ones." With a sigh, Gray muttered, "Better go tell the others."

* * *

Natsu continued running around the station aimlessly, trying to find where Erigor could be, not realizing he was no longer in the building.

What he also did not realize, was the shadow that followed him along the ceiling.

* * *

Erza was in the main room, holding a battered Eisenwald member by the collar. "Answer me…how do I break this wind spell?"

The dark-haired man merely laughed insultingly at her. "You can't. It won't come down until Erigor takes it down. And by the time that's done…our mission will be done."

Erza snarled at the man and tossed him down, moving to the next grunt.

"Erza!"

Erza turned as Gray appeared from one of the hallways.

She looked at Gray and noticed his battered state. "What happened, did you meet Erigor?"

Gray shook his head. "No, I didn't find him, but I've got bad news, this whole thing was ruse."

Erza looked at him confused and narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Erigor's plan was never to attack the people outside, his aim the whole time was something called the Guild Master's Conference."

Erza's eyes then widened greatly. "Damn, I should have realized this was a trap. But our first problem is getting past that damned Wind Wall."

"What?"

"Erigor has surrounded this building with a wall of wind, preventing us from escaping."

"Dammit.

Erza clenched her fist and then walked over to one of the downed men. "I demand you to answer me, how can we break through that barrier."

The man just smirked sadistically. "You will _never_ break through it…"

"Answers! Now! We need to bring down that barrier and I will use your body to do it if I have to!"

The man paled slightly and then answered, "K - Kage! Kage can do it!"

Erza knocked the man out and turned to Gray. "Gray, find this 'Kage' immediately! And where's Natsu?"

"We split off to try and find Erigor separately," Gray explained simply.

"So you disobeyed," Erza asserted dangerously.

"E – eh…?"

"You ignored my order to stick together."

"Oh you've gotta be kidding! It would've taken twice as long to search for that asshole if we –!"

Erza interrupted him. "Why do you think Fairy Tail emphasizes the creation of teams so much?"

"I… huh?"

Erza sighed and repeated, "Why do you think Fairy Tail emphasizes the creation of teams so much?"

"I… guess I don't know."

"Because when you are out on a job, it is always best to have someone at your back in case someone tries to stab it. And you just let Natsu run off!"

"He can handle himself. Besides, that redhead is with him."

Flare then wandered out the hallway, bewildered. "Hey, you guys, I can't find Natsu."

Gray started to sweat uncomfortably.

Erza growled angrily.

"C – come on…" Gray rebutted weakly, "he's Natsu, he'll be fine."

"You are right. He is Natsu. And what does Natsu do? Daily?" Erza retorted.

"Uh… sleep?"

Erza twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

"I hope Natsu doesn't get into any trouble," Flare muttered in concern. "Oohh… if only I was there with him…"

Erza sighed. "Come on, let's go."

"R – right…" Gray responded weakly.

After they left one of the men on the ground, a tall man with a square face, dark eyes, black hair arranged in a flat tuft pointing up, and three whisker-like hairs on each side of his face, wearing a zipped brown jacket with a collar over a black shirt, blue pants, and brown shoes looked towards a section of the wall and called out quietly, "Karacka…"

A yellow magic circle appeared on the wall as a short, hunched, fat man with no visible nose, very thick lips, green hair in tall, rounded spikes, who wore a red jacket with lighter-colored edges, with a high collar that was fastened leaving the rest open over a white shirt that exposed some of his large stomach along with loose, military-style pants, and blue boots came out of the magic circle. "Wh – what is it, Byard?"

Byard groaned and then looked at the fat man. "I've got a very… special mission for you… Karacka."

* * *

Natsu continued running through the hallways of the station before stopping and sighing.

Above him, Kageyama's Shadow Form stopped as well. ' _Uh-oh… did he notice me?_ '

Natsu threw his hands in the air and shouted, "Where are you crazy scythe guy!?"

Kageyama just looked at Natsu in disbelief.

Natsu turned to one of the walls and encased his fist in flames. "If you won't come out, then I'll just bring down the whole station.

' _Th – this guy's… supposed to be in a Light Guild?_ '

Natsu proceeded with his threat and began busting through walls.

* * *

Lucy, Minerva, Juvia, and Happy were searching through the halls of the station as well trying to find Karacka. After a few moments, Lucy stopped and moaned. "Geez… we're never gonna find this guy." She then turned to the others. "Come on, why don't we head back and tell Erza we couldn't find him?"

Happy looked at her shocked at the declaration. "Wwooww, Lucy. You're so brave, defying Erza's orders like that."

"Eh?" Lucy squeaked out.

"But I have to say I feel sorry for you, because the _things_ Erza will do to you if you don't follow her orders."

"Th – things…?" Lucy asked with trepidation.

"Yeah… things with ropes and chains…"

Lucy paled before eagerly asserting, "O – okay you guys, let's go!"

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

Natsu burst through a wall with his fists ablaze and looked around angrily. "Come on! Where are you!?"

"Good grief, you Fairy Tail Flies sure are noisy."

"Huh?!"

Natsu turned around as Kageyama appeared from his shadows.

"Hey! It's Calibratorcab!"

"That doesn't even sound remotely the same you retard!" Kageyama growled at Natsu's apparent stupidity and then thrust his hand forward. "Knuckle Shadow!" A fist made of shadows appeared from the floor and raced towards Natsu.

The Dragon Slayer ducked to the side and spat fireballs at Kageyama.

Kageyama crossed his hands in response. "Guard Shadow!" A dome of shadows appeared around him and blocked the flames.

Natsu raced towards Kageyama and threw a series of punches and kicks, all of which Kageyama blocked or dodged. In frustration, Natsu jumped back, encased his hands in flame and charged forward shouting, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Kageyama barely dodged the attack but the burst of flames from the attack also ended up throwing Kageyama against the wall. He stood up angrily and smirked at Natsu. "Oh, you're so dead pal. Here, try my most powerful attack!" He clasped his hands together and then thrust one forward. "Shadow Orochi!" The shadows around his feet split off and burst forward, forming a multitude of snakes that charged at Natsu. "And don't bother running, my snakes will chase to the ends of the earth!"

Natsu merely grumbled in response. "Yeah, big talk!" Natsu splayed his hands out, collected fire around them and curled them into fists, and then slammed his hands together, causing a magic circle and fire to burst out before bringing his hands up in front of his mouth, right hand in front of his left and inhaled a large breath. "Fire Dragon Roar!" A magic circle appeared in front of him and a torrent of flames burst from it and engulfed Kageyama's Shadow Orochi, destroying the snakes and barreling towards him.

Kageyama stood frozen in place at the sight. "Aahh crap." He slammed through the wall from the force of the attack and collapsed unconscious on the other side.

Natsu sighed as Erza, Flare, and Gray came into the room.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted. "Are you hurt?"

Natsu gave a thumbs up with a grin. "Nope, I'm fine. Can't say that for the other guy though." He then paled slightly and put up his hands. "I'm sorry! I told Gray it was a –!"

Erza silenced him by putting a finger on his lips. "I know already. And it was Gray's idea, so you need not worry."

"Other guy?"

Natsu pointed at him. "Doggymama."

"I – it's… Kageyama…" the battered shadow-user corrected weakly.

Erza immediately walked over to Kageyama and picked him up by the collar. "Now, you will dispel the Wind Wall outside, understand?"

Kageyama, who had been fully roused to consciousness by Erza's sudden action, nodded weakly. "Alright… I'll do it."

However, right at that moment, a magic circle appeared on the wall and a hand burst out, plunging a dagger through Kageyama's back and out through his chest.

Erza's eyes widened as the hand receded Karacka appeared nearby.

Karacka looked at the weakened form of Kageyama sadly. "S – sorry, Kageyama, it was… Byard's orders."

"You bastard!" Natsu howled. "He was your comrade, wasn't he?!"

Karacka shrunk back. "B - but… they were… my orders."

"So?!" Natsu retorted as he kicked Karacka through the wall.

Karacka laid on the floor twitching unconsciously.

Erza put a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "That is enough, save your energy for Erigor."

Natsu merely hissed.

"Let's head back to the front of the station. We're surrounded by a wall of wind, we have to figure out a way past it." She then grabbed the bleeding Kageyama. "Flare, cauterize these wounds, we can still use him."

Flare ignited her hair and burned the wounds shut, causing Kageyama to growl in pain before Erza threw him to Gray.

"Huh?! Why me?!" Gray retorted.

"Consider it your punishment for disobeying me," Erza charged.

"You can't _seriously_ still be mad about that!"

Erza merely shot him an angry glare.

"If you're expecting some form of gratitude from me forget it," Kageyama remarked weakly as Gray threw him over his shoulder.

Erza walked up to him and replied, "Not necessarily gratitude, but we _are_ expecting you to take down that barrier."

"… Fine…"

* * *

Elsewhere, Erigor flew over a large chasm within which a set of train tracks went through, Clover Canyon, the path leading towards the meeting hall of the Guild Masters. Erigor chuckled darkly as he overlooked the area. "Heh, heh, won't be long now, but the God of Death will purge the Light Guild Masters." He then flew off in another direction.

* * *

Back at the station, Natsu, Erza, Flare, Lucy, Minerva, Juvia, Happy, and Gray stood at the edge of the Wind Wall.

Erza adorned her Heaven's Wheel Armor and sent another attack at the wall. "Circle Sword!" The disc-like assembly of swords struck the wall and immediately collapsed and shattered. Erza returned to her normal armor and hissed in frustration.

Natsu shouted in agitation and rushed at the wall, using his flame-encased fists to beat on it repeatedly, to no avail.

Minerva sighed and added, "I'd teleport us out if I could see through this wall, but I can't."

Erza turned and tried to awaken Kageyama, whom had passed out on the way there. "This is not working, if we do not do something swiftly it will be too late."

Natsu folded his arms in frustrated thought before realizing a possible plan. "Hey, Lucy!"

"What if we summon a Celestial Spirit? They can take us through the portal like I did!"

Lucy slapped him on the back of the head. "You idiot, humans can't go through the Celestial Gate, it's not allowed."

"But I did. When that midget summoned the gorilla, I went to this weird place with all these stars."

"HUH!?"

"I even met these two pretty ladies there."

"Who?" Juvia asked disconcerted.

"Maxwell and Muzet."

" _You_ met the Lord of Spirits!? Are you kidding me!?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

"Ah-hah!" Happy suddenly shouted.

"What was that for, cat!?"

"I remember what I was supposed to tell you back in the car!" Happy rooted around in his backpack and handed Lucy a fancy, golden key. "After the last job at Everlue's mansion, Virgo gave me her key and asked me to give it to you."

Lucy turned blue and looked at the key. "You mean… that big gorilla thing? While I'm happy to get a new key, especially a Zodiac Key, that won't do much for us right now."

Happy snickered proudly. "But you're forgetting, Virgo digs holes. We can have her dig a hole and get out _under_ the Wind Wall."

"Oh yeah!"

However, before Lucy could take the key from Happy, Natsu swiped it. "Gimme!"

"Hey!"

"What? I want it."

"Do you even know how to summon her?"

"It's Gate of the Maiden, right? Yukino told me about all the different Zodiac Spirits once."

"H – huh?"

"Right! Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" He raised the key as he called out.

The gate appeared and in a burst of smoke a young woman with a thin frame, though an admittedly large bosom, short pink hair, blue eyes, who wore shackles on her wrists with chains hanging down, a black undercoat under a white, frill-trimmed apron, thigh-high, white stockings, and simple black shoes appeared.

"Hold on, that's not right, you look different from before," Lucy remarked.

"My appearance changes based on the preferences of my Master," Virgo explained.

The others looked at Natsu with suspicious glances.

"W – well… it's accurate… I guess…" Lucy muttered uncomfortably.

"It is good to see that the feline did as asked," Virgo said.

Happy tilted his head in bewilderment. "What? I thought you said to give your key to Lucy."

"I said to give it to the pink one."

Happy pointed at Lucy's hand. "Her guild mark is pink."

Virgo then turned to Natsu. "What do you need, Master?"

"Can ya dig us a hole outta here?" Natsu asked.

Lucy smiled in mild exasperation. "Don't you think it's weird that she calls you Master?"

Natsu shrugged. "It ain't my name but she can call me what she wants."

"Have I made a mistake, Master?" Virgo asked before turning and sticking her backside out slightly. "Do I require punishment?"

"Su –" Natsu began to answer but was interrupted by Lucy.

"Nnoo!" Lucy shouted.

Natsu turned to her, puzzled.

"Let's get out of here first! You can enact your kinky fetishes later!"

Natsu tilted his head in thought. "Fetish? Is that like roleplay?"

Erza put a hand on her chin in thought. "Hhmm… so that is how it is? I will need to speak to Laki."

Natsu then turned back to Virgo. "Come on, Virgo, let's get outta here."

"As you wish, Master," Virgo answered before she began spinning and dug a hole into the ground.

Erza turned to Kageyama in thought. "We need to bring him with us."

"I will carry everyone through," Virgo explained.

"Gray can get through on his own," Natsu interjected.

"Hey!" Gray argued.

* * *

The group finally made their way out of the Wind Wall through the hole Virgo dug, finding that despite calm winds inside, the winds outside the Wall were vicious.

"Man, this wind is insane on this side!" Flare shouted.

"Y – yeah…!" Lucy added as she tried to keep her skirt down.

Once away from the torrential winds, Erza turned to the group. "We have to pursue Erigor, if we're lucky there's still time before he reaches the conference, but we'll need to catch up fast. Natsu, go and find Erigor and stop him! The rest of us will try to get to the conference, you worry about stopping Erigor."

"Right!" Natsu replied as Happy jumped on his back, flared out his wings, and flew off into the sky.

* * *

Erigor flew through the air on his way to the guild masters' conference when something slammed into him, causing both it and him to hit the ground hard.

Erigor groaned as he stood up and saw Natsu behind him. "You damn fly! How'd you escape?!"

"We dug a hole," Natsu retorted.

"Tch, well I'll be sure to dig a bigger one and bury you in it!"

"Just try it!" Natsu retorted as he lit his fists and feet in flame.

* * *

Erza drove the magic four-wheeler erratically as her vision began to blur.

"Hey, Erza," Lucy began, "are you sure you shouldn't let someone else drive?"

"N – no…" Erza responded, strained, "I am… fine…"

Minerva sighed and snatched the cuff from Erza's arm and put it on her own arm. "If you won't let one of us drive then we can at least give your mana reserves a break."

Erza sighed before cracking a small smile. "… Thank you…"

Minerva smiled in return. "That's what a guild's for, right?"

As Erza drove, one of the jostles stirred Kageyama from his unconsciousness. He looked around and realized where he was. He immediately tensed up and then groaned in pain, seeing the bandages all over his body, puzzled. He looked at the other Fairy Tail members and asked suspiciously, "Why did you let me live?" Narrowing his eyes he continued, "You're planning to use me as a bargaining chip, aren't you…?" He then sighed and shook his head. "That wouldn't work, Erigor doesn't care about anyone."

"You know," Gray interrupted, "if all you're lookin' for is death, just say the word."

Kageyama sneered at him, Lucy looking at him with slight disbelief as well.

Gray then turned to Kageyama and added, "But don't fool yourself into thinking everything comes down to a matter of life or death."

Kageyama looked at him surprised and confused, biting his lip in frustration.

* * *

Natsu threw several blasts of flame at Erigor, which the scythe-wielder blocked by deftly spinning his scythe quickly.

Erigor then retaliated by swiping his scythe repeatedly, sending large blades of wind at Natsu.

Natsu rushed forward, punching and kicking at the blades as he ran, destroying them, before rearing his fist back. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he howled as he swung his fist at Erigor.

Erigor leapt into the air at the last minute, causing Natsu to stumble forward and for his flames to burst forward harmlessly. Erigor smirked and dove back down, slamming his foot into Natsu's back.

Natsu surged flames from his back, which Erigor narrowly dodged, before jumping up and punching at Erigor again.

Erigor dodged the attack once more and sent a blade of wind at Natsu that sent him flying.

Natsu pushed off from the nearby rock wall and soared up at Erigor, his fists becoming engulfed in flames before long trails emitted from them. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu shouted as he swung his arms up, causing the trails of flame to smack Erigor from below, before swinging his arms down swiftly, causing the trails to slam into Erigor from above and explode, sending him crashing to the tracks below. "Hah! Take that!"

Erigor stood up, annoyed, and spat blood. "Damn fly."

Natsu charged down with a flame-encased fist at the ready.

Erigor hissed and raised his scythe to block but widened his eyes as Natsu's fist slammed straight through the scythe, shattering it in two, before Natsu's fist slammed into Erigor himself and exploded flames outward violently.

Erigor was sent flying, bouncing on the tracks several times before sliding to a stop.

Natsu grinned before snarling as Erigor stood up once more.

"I think this has gone on long enough," Erigor hissed before looking at the remnants of his scythe and throwing it aside. He then crossed his arms in front of him, causing a magic circle to appear in the air before wind burst from it and swirled around his body, coating him in an armor of wind. "Storm Mail!"

"Like that'll stop me!" Natsu challenged as he charged at Erigor. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he shouted as he punched Erigor. However, the wind surrounding Erigor extinguished Natsu's flames and shot back at Natsu, sending him crashing to the ground below.

Erigor laughed loudly. "Stupid fly! I'm invincible in my Storm Mail! Flame can't beat wind!"

Natsu hissed angrily. "Fire Dragon Roar!" he howled before sending a stream of fire at Erigor, which curled around him and extinguished harmlessly.

"Not good!" Happy shouted in concern.

"Don't worry, I'll clobber this guy!"

"Yeah right!" Erigor argued before extending a hand forward, causing a magic circle to appear which fired a massive barrage of compact wind blades at high speeds. "Storm Shred!"

Natsu widened his eyes and leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the shots, hissing as one nicked his arm. "Damn, those things are sharp."

"I'll shred you to pieces, fly! Storm Bringer!" A magic circle appeared in front of Erigor that shot a tornado out that slammed into the airborne Natsu, engulfing him, tumbling and spinning him erratically while the wind inside sliced at him, leaving him dazed as the tornado dissipated, allowing Erigor to charge in and slam into Natsu, causing a burst of wind that shot Natsu back down to the ground.

Natsu groaned as he sat up slowly. "Dammit… not good… looks like… I can't keep messin' around…"

"You can't beat me fly! It's time to die! Emera Baram!" Erigor howled as many magic circles appeared in front of him.

"Not good!" Happy shouted. "I've heard of this spell! Natsu, if you get hit, it'll chop us to bits!"

Before Natsu could react, the magic circles shot out multiple tornadoes made of wind blades that slammed into the train tracks below, shredding them to pieces, before surging forward and slamming into, then engulfing, Natsu. He howled in pain as the thousands of wind blades inside cut at his body combined with the debris and shrapnel kicked up by the wind.

As the spell died down, Erigor snickered confidently but then huffed in annoyance when he saw Natsu, beaten but alive, lying on the ground. "You're a persistent fly."

Natsu stood up weakly, coughing blood onto the ground before sighing. "Damn… guess I gotta stop holding back now."

Erigor raised an eyebrow in confusion as Natsu's body was engulfed in a swirling vortex of bright orange flames. "What's this supposed to be?" Erigor's attention perked when the orange flames began to fleck with black flames before the flames were replaced entirely, midnight black flames surging outwards violently. "Oh? Am I supposed to be scared?"

Natsu took in a breath before sighing. "Man… I haven't used these in a while."

Erigor raised an eyebrow in thought. "What the…? Tch, no matter, flames are flames, and my Wind Magic will put them all out! Magic Wind Palm!" He clapped his hands, causing a small twister to launch out and surge towards Natsu.

Natsu raised a hand and fired streams of black flames at the incoming twister.

Erigor's eyes widened when Natsu's flames began to consume his wind and raced towards him. "What the hell!? No! That's not possible! My wind should extinguish your flames!"

Erigor dashed to the side as the flames soared past him.

Natsu smirked as the flames on his feet and hands surged. "Maybe the flames of a dragon are consumed by that wind. But these aren't the flames of a dragon, no, these are the flames of a god. This is Flame God Slayer Magic!"

"What!?"

Natsu surged up, his flames exploding from his feet to send him up faster as he reared back a fist and slammed it into Erigor's Storm Mail, the flames exploding outward violently. "Flame God Hammer!"

Erigor grunted as his Storm Mail was engulfed and destroyed. "Wh… what…? That's… not possible…"

"How's that you bastard?!"

Erigor snarled as he surged wind from his feet to steady himself. "I'm not done yet! One more time, Emera Baram!" he bellowed as more magic circles appeared and launched another torrent of wind at Natsu.

Natsu outstretched his fists, which surged with black flames, before slamming them together, causing a magic circle to appear as the flames roared, then putting his fists in front of his mouth as the magic circle moving in front of them as he took in a big breath. "Flame God Bellow!" he howled as an immense eruption of black flames shot from the magic circle, completely engulfing and devouring Erigor's flames before racing towards the stunned dark wizard himself.

His eyes wide, Erigor trembled in fear. "N – no… this… can't be happening…" he muttered before the mass of racing flames slammed into him, detonating outwards intensely, filling the air with smoke and flame.

As the flames and smoke dissipated, Natsu the incapacitated and unconscious Erigor lying on the ground.

Moments later, the others appeared from around the bend on the magic four-wheeler.

"Yo!" Natsu cheered as his black flames disappeared.

"Natsu-Sama!" Juvia cheered as she tackled him.

"Whoa, did you actually beat him?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Natsu answered with a nod as ran a hand through Juvia's hair. "Why are you surprised?"

"U – uh… no reason."

"Good work," Erza congratulated with a smile.

Natsu grinned happily.

After the group spoke for a few moments, Kageyama looked at the side of one of the seats and saw the Lullaby sitting there, before looking back up at Erigor.

As they continued to speak, Natsu suddenly freaked out and jumped to the side, the others following suit as Kageyama sped by, having stolen their magic four-wheeler.

"Hey, get back here!" Natsu ordered.

As Kageyama drove off, he thought, ' _Erigor might've failed to wipe out the Guildmasters, but I won't._ '

Natsu and the others could only stand in awe at Kageyama's brash action before Erza grit her teeth and ordered, "Alright, we have to chase after him! Move!"

"Right!" the others all responded in unison.

* * *

Kageyama eventually abandoned the magic four-wheeler when the terrain became too crowded with trees and made his way through the forest towards the Guildmaster Conference. Upon seeing it, he smirked proudly and removed the flute from his pocket to prepare playing it.

However, right when he was about to he heard rustling behind him and stowed the flute behind him, turning to take out whoever was interrupting him.

To his confusion it was Makarov, whom he recognized as nothing more than a little old man, wandering around reading an issue of Sorcerer Magazine.

Makarov, who was busily reading the magazine with a perverse grin, didn't notice Kageyama standing there, and then when he did, hurriedly shoved the magazine behind him and began stammering all over himself with excuses, Kageyama just looking at him puzzled.

However, after listening to Makarov's stammering for a few moments he concluded the old man was just stupid and decided to try and trick him. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something."

Makarov stopped for a moment and then looked at Kageyama curiously. "Alright, what is it?"

"I was planning on playing this song for the Guildmasters, but, I seem to be getting cold feet. Do you think you could allow me to play it for you, then you can tell me what you think?"

Makarov folded his arms in thought and then nodded with a smile. "Sure sonny, go ahead."

Kageyama brought the Lullaby up to his mouth to play, however, right when he was about to, he remembered his one-time allies who had encouraged the Lullaby Plan, now all of them captured by the Council. He then remembered the words Lucy and Gray said to him in rebuke of his wish for death.

* * *

Nearby, Natsu and the others finally arrived to see Kageyama over by Makarov.

Natsu and Gray prepared to rush forward to take down Kageyama, but were stopped when Bob stepped in their path.

"Oohh mmyy, well what do we have here?!" Bob exclaimed ecstatically.

Natsu paled as Bob smiled at him.

"Wh – what is that…?" Lucy asked in bewilderment.

"Blob…" Natsu answered with disgust.

Bob reached out to hug Natsu. "Aaww, that's so mean, Nat –!"

Natsu immediately hid behind Erza and kicked Gray at Bob. "Take the stripper!"

"Oooohh!"

Gray screamed in fear.

Lucy could only watch in slight despair. ' _Th-this guy…is the Guildmaster for Blue Pegasus…?_ '

Goldmine then walked over and tapped Lucy on the shoulder, also gaining the attention of the others. "Just watch. I'm sure Makarov can handle this situation."

The others nodded in puzzled agreement and watched Makarov.

* * *

Kageyama clenched his fists as he debated his actions. ' _All I need to do is play one, single song, and everything will change. Everything will be different…_ '

Makarov then remarked, "This won't change anything."

Kageyama's eyes widened as he registered Makarov's words.

"Using that flute to kill people won't accomplish anything. It can't change the fact that humans are weak. However, that we _are_ weak is a good thing, I think. It's the reason why things like guilds even exist. When you're surrounded by friends and family who all care for each other, you can even out, or even overcome, your own weakness."

Kageyama's eyes widened as he took in what Makarov said, before dropping the flute and falling to his knees. "I… surrender…"

"He did it!" Lucy cheered happily.

"Way to go Gramps!" Natsu offered as he and the others ran over to him. However, as they rejoiced, Natsu suddenly felt a very powerful, dark energy fill the air.

 **"You pathetic humans! If you can't do anything, then I'll just do it myself!"** a loud, demonic voice suddenly howled in frustration.

It was then that everyone watched as the three eyes of the Lullaby lit up bright violet before tendrils and limbs of wood stretched out in every direction.

"Move!" Erza ordered before everyone scattered.

Then, a gargantuan, demon-like creature made of wood stood above the crowd of gathered wizards.

"Whoa! What is that?!" Natsu shouted.

Erza growled in frustration as she looked upon the beast. "It is Lullaby's true form."

As Lullaby looked around, it roared with a loud bellow. **"You pathetic weaklings! I swear I'll devour the soul of every human here! You will all perish to my song!"** Lullaby then turned to a mountain nearby and opened its maw, energy collecting and forming into a magic circle, a massive beam of energy shooting from the circle and annihilating a large portion of the mountain.

The Rune Knights, who had arrived to help, turned and fled away from the towering behemoth, leaving the mages to deal with it themselves.

Natsu glowered at the monster and pounded his fists together. "This thing's gonna pay for that!"

Erza nodded in agreement as her body was illuminated in bright, golden light before her normal attire was replaced by a new armor with her hair tied up in a long ponytail, the armor itself being composed of a neck guard that decorated with silver as well as multiple gems, along with two black shoulders guards with silver edges, overlapping each other on each shoulder, with silver crosses on them and flanking the collar of the armor, reminiscent of a dress, the breastplate having silver edges and revealing much of Erza's cleavage and abdomen, a series of plates flanking her sides and hips which reached down to the armor's very large skirt armor, which itself was composed of long, silver-edged plates shaped like feathers and adorned with silver, cross-like markings, the waist armor also leaving much of the of the front of lower body exposed, a black bikini-like cloth covering her, as well as slim gauntlets with silver patterns, and leg armor that was silver-edged at her hips and jet black on her greaves. "Requip: Black Wing Armor!"

Gray, as usual, threw off his shirt in preparation to fight the monstrosity.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu howled.

"Water Dragon Roar!" Juvia shouted.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray added.

All three of the attacks impacted on Lullaby but left no marks. The beast laughed loudly. **"Stupid humans! You can't kill me!"**

"… I think we need bigger weapons…" Lucy muttered in disbelief.

Natsu grinned widely. "I've got just the thing."

"Huh?"

Natsu then pulled out a gold key with a purple form wrapped around it. He raised the key into the air and shouted, "Open, Gate of the Snake Charmer: Ophiuchus!"

A magic circle then appeared in the air from which smoke burst out. As the smoke cleared everyone gaped as they saw an immense, violet, mechanical snake emerge.

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed.

 **"I don't care what you summon!"** Lullaby howled. **"I'll destroy it all!"**

Ophiuchus growled before coiling around in the air and whacking at Lullaby with its tail, causing the wooden demon to slam into the conference building. The mechanical snake then opened its maw wide, firing a blast of energy at Ophiuchus that exploded violently, destroying more of the conference hall.

Lullaby stood up, its face slightly damaged. **"Like that'll stop me!"**

Ophiuchus responded instantly by chomping onto Lullaby's head.

Lullaby stood in stunned shock for a moment before howling in pain. **"…** **OOOWWW! Get off!"**

Ophiuchus clamped down harder before Lullaby finally grabbed the snake and threw it off, only to see Natsu in the air overhead. **"… Eh…?"**

Natsu soared in the air towards Lullaby, his fists becoming engulfed in black flames before long trails emitted from them. "Flame God Supper!" Natsu shouted as he swung his arms up, causing the trails of black flame to smack Lullaby from below, before swinging his arms down swiftly, causing the trails to slam into Lullaby from above, chopping off one of the beast's arms.

Erza smirked and leapt into the air as well. "Moon Flash!" she announced as she dashed forward at immense speed, cutting through Lullaby's other arm and severing it.

Flare untied her hair and spread it outward as it ignited. "Hair Shower: Firefly Flame!" chunks of her hair flew off at Lullaby, exploding on impact.

"Water Dragon Great Flood!" Juvia shouted as a huge torrent of water shot forward and engulfed Lullaby, destroying even more of the conference building.

"Territory!" Minerva exclaimed before hundreds of glowing portals surrounded Lullaby before exploding in a violent barrage, leaving the monster a damaged, crippled husk.

Natsu hovered above as black flames began condensing between his hands. "Now for the finish! Flame God Inferno!" The flames then surged outward in a gargantuan explosion, engulfing the entirety of Lullaby and the remains of the conference building in the burst, destroying and vaporizing all of it.

Makarov gaped in shock as the flames died down, revealing a mere crater.

"W – wow…" Goldmine muttered in shock.

Lucy turned around and saw the collection of other guild masters glaring at their group. "We should… probably start running, right?"

"Yes," Makarov answered plainly. "Fast."

The group immediately ban fleeing from the ensuing mob of angry guild masters, running for the horizon and beyond.

* * *

 **And there you have it, folks! That wraps up this chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I would like to trust that the majority of you enjoyed the chapter, and be sure to post a review if you did. If you were confused or have questions on anything, be sure to post a review and I will do what I can to address your query. And if you did not enjoy the review, feel free to post a review, just try to keep it constructive or, if you cannot do that, go and do something that you actually enjoy. Well, until next time, buh-bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

 **Hello all and welcome to the newest chapter of Embodiment of Flame! I do hope that you enjoyed the previous chapter, some of you did at the very least. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Post a review if you do. Or if you are confused or unsure on anything. Or even if you simply did not enjoy it. That aside, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for his previous and continued help with this story. Well, nothing else to add, so on to the reviewer responses.**

 **Jalis: Eh, to each his own I suppose. The only female character I strictly dislike in Fairy Tail is Kyouka. Well he needed a boost of power to beat Erigor and I felt it was the best way to unveil his knowledge of Flame God Slayer Magic. Otherwise it would be a long time before that chance arises.**

 **FanFictionHunter: It's Kaiju Big Battle!**

 **TheWhiteTitan: It being a surprise is generally the idea. Well I cannot really reveal that just yet, can I? Do not worry, it will be made apparent later. Thank you, I shall do what I can.**

 **treeofsakuras: I would like to see Natsu x most of them, but that is unlikely to happen in the realm we call canon, so FanFiction will have to suffice.**

 **Mexican ninja1996: Do not worry, she is in.**

 **Well, that about sums up the reviewer responses, so time to move on to the chapter itself, shall we?**

 **ATTENTION: I have made a change to a section of Chapter II. So be sure to make yourself aware of that.**

* * *

In a tall, dark room, a group of people stood suspended over a large Magic Circle.

As they discussed different topics, one voice spoke up. "Are you not concerned with the recent rise in the number of Dark Guilds as of late?"

Another voice added, "Naturally, Michello."

Michello answered, "I would say not, as you have not put forth many ideas on how to solve the issue, Belno."

Soon it descended into arguments until one member, a young man with short blue hair, a red, tribal tattoo encompassing his right eye, wearing a long white tunic with black stripes across the edges and on the upper part of his arms, a decorated collar, large straps connected to decorated buckles, and matching pants and shoes, spoke up in a calm voice. "Now, now. I think we all should take in to consideration one group that _has_ been effective with dealing with the Dark Guilds, Fairy Tail."

Another member, a tall, grey-haired, elderly man with a considerably long beard and a mustache, pointed ears, and thin dark eyes, one of which he kept closed, who wore multiple layers of intricate robes and a bat-like adornment on his head, snapped at the other. "Siegrain, don't give such good will to those destructive fools! There is no point in taking down Dark Guilds if they cause just as much, if not more, damage than the Dark Guilds themselves!"

The now named Siegrain folded his arms with a confident smirk. "Now, now, Org, I think even you can agree that as… _reckless_ , as they may be, Fairy Tail is an invaluable asset in dealing with the Dark Guilds."

Org narrowed his one open eye at Siegrain. "I'd be careful with your words, Siegrain. You are a newcomer to the Council, so not keeping yourself from showing too many dissenting opinions could land you excised, not that I would find such a case painful."

"I think Siegrain has a point, actually," a pale-skinned woman with long purple hair that reached her waist and brown eyes wearing a short, white kimono with long sleeves, an orange obi, and simple black sandals responded, supporting Siegrain's words.

"Ultear, you should also watch your words," Org responded shortly.

Another council member, a very broad man with a large bushy beard knotted into a bun on either side, a snub nose, drowsy eyes, and a small bun of hair atop his head, who wore a robe he kept tightly shut over a black undershirt, a dark-cuffed coat with a diamond pattern over that, and a dark cape of sorts over his shoulders with a spade-pattern, spoke to Org. "Now, I think that's enough arguing, Org, Siegrain. While I do understand the reasoning for them dealing with Dark Guilds so… 'effectively,' Siegrain, I must agree with Org that they cause quite a bit of damage."

Org smirked lightly while Siegrain frowned in annoyance.

"However, Org, I think that you hold some resentment towards them, as they are not a true threat to us."

This time it was Siegrain who smirked as Org frowned.

Siegrain then added, "To prove my point, look at this recent Eisenwald incident. What if we had our way and Fairy Tail had not been present? True, there would have been less property damage but the Guildmasters would have been killed, and that would put the blame on _our_ heads."

Org snarled back, "That does not change the fact that there _was_ property damage, to an excessive extent!"

Belno sighed in frustration and then offered, "In that case, why not give them some form of punishment? We must still keep our power in balance."

Siegrain thought for a moment and then nodded. "I accept that."

The large man nodded and asked, "All in favor?"

There was a collective response in the affirmative, although one member gave a troubled expression.

* * *

As Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Minerva, Flare, Juvia, Makarov, Happy, and Gray made their way back into Magnolia, Natsu took in a large breath and then sighed happily.

"It's great to be back!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yes it is Natsu-Sama!" Juvia added with an excited smile.

"I swear, you kids have too much energy," Makarov remarked.

However, as the group continued on their path to the guildhall, a horn sounding interrupted their trek. They all turned and saw a humanoid frog in noble robes.

Lucy gaped in disbelief. "Wh – what the…?"

The frog looked amongst the group and then announced, "Fairy Tail has caused severe amounts of damage to the lands of Fiore in their jobs, causing over seven hundred thousand Jewel in damages in the past month alone. The Council has determined that instead of punishing the entire guild, one member shall be selected and reprimanded in its place."

Natsu folded his arms in annoyance. "Great, bet it's me."

"The fact that you have enough insight to see that is disturbing," Lucy remarked.

To the shock and confusion of all, however, the humanoid frog placed shackles on Erza's wrists. "That member shall be Erza Scarlet."

The other women paled slightly as Natsu twitched, ready to attack.

"As such, you, Erza Scarlet, are hereby under arrest and shall be taken to the Magic Council for trial."

Black flames began sparking around Natsu, sparked with flecks of blue.

"That is enough Natsu," Erza interjected, "no need to cause a scene."

"What's going on!?" Lisanna shouted as she and Elfman ran up to the others.

The frog-man tugged on a chain attached to Erza's shackles. "Come along now, the Council doesn't have all day."

Natsu narrowed his eyes in a scowl. "He dares chain her…"

As they left, Makarov narrowed his eyes and then turned to Elfman. "Make sure Natsu doesn't leave."

Elfman nodded and, just as Natsu began to jump up in order to leave, Elfman reached up and grabbed him by the legs and pulled him back. "Sorry Natsu, but we can't let you go causing trouble like that."

"What?!" Natsu shouted indignantly. "But they arrested Erza for no reason! You guys aren't just gunna let'em get away with it, are ya?!"

"Stay calm, Natsu," Makarov urged. "It's only a show of force on the Council's part. Chances are they'll just give her a slap on the wrist and that'll be it."

Natsu growled angrily. "Then they shouldn't do it in such a degrading way!"

* * *

Erza was being led through the halls of the Fiore branch of the Council's building, when she spotted someone that made her blood run cold.

Standing next to one of the pillars in the hallway was Councilor Siegrain, his arms folded as Erza and her escort approached.

The escort bowed to him. "Councilor."

Siegrain turned and smiled slyly to Erza. "It's good to see you again, Erza."

The Fairy Princess kept silent.

After a moment the Councilor sighed and then walked up to Erza, placing a hand on her chin. "You know, it's not good to ignore a Councilor."

Erza trembled mildly in revulsion and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that a threat?"

Siegrain backed up and chuckled. "Not at all. Just a suggestion. Also, I'd suggest it best to keep the past behind us, so I'll overlook this little event." He then walked off with his hands in his pockets.

Erza bit her lip as he walked away. ' _He is a very dangerous man._ '

Erza was then led to the court where the other Councilors were waiting to put her on trial.

* * *

Back at the Fairy Tail guildhall, Makarov and the others stood in the main room of the building, somber over Erza's arrest.

"Will… will Erza be alright?" Juvia asked with concern.

"I don't know…" Flare responded lowly.

On the counter, however, was a small jar with a red salamander inside with a single tuft of pink hair. "Hey! Lemme outta here dammit!"

Lisanna frowned and rebutted, "If we do that you'll go out and do something reckless."

Mirajane turned to him and remarked, "Just stay calm for a little while longer. She'll be back soon."

* * *

Back at the court, Erza stood in front of the Council as a series of witnesses, including civilians and property owners in the different areas that had been involved in the fight against Eisenwald, attested to Fairy Tail, and more specifically Erza's, destructive capabilities and tendencies.

Erza sighed as the witnesses were paraded in front of her, she herself getting nary a word in rebuke.

* * *

Lucy looked at Natsu inside the jar and then added her own opinion to the matter. "You know, for once, I actually agree with Natsu."

Natsu, who was as puzzled as the others, blinked curiously.

"We should go, leave immediately to go rescue Erza."

Makarov shook his head. "No, it'd be useless to go, even if we left now. We'd arrive too late."

"Let! Me! Out!" Natsu demanded as he rammed the jar, attempting to knock it down.

Makarov narrowed his eyes and asked, "Do you really want to go out there and attack the Council, and risk endangering the rest of us?"

Natsu flinched before lowering his head and quieting down.

Makarov narrowed his eyes further and then knocked the jar off the table with his staff.

The jar hit the ground and shattered, causing smoke to burst into the air. The others gaped as the smoke cleared to reveal Macao rather than Natsu.

"S – sorry…" Macao apologized weakly. "I owed Natsu one after the stuff on Mt. Hakobe. He left a while ago."

The others gulped in worry.

Makarov sighed heavily. "Well, there's nothing we can do now but patiently wait for the results. And pray I don't get more paperwork…"

* * *

As the last witness stepped down, Erza merely standing calmly, Org looked down at her and announced, "Erza Scarlet, for the crimes of severe property damage, civil unrest, and civilian endangerment, this court finds you guilty. You are hereby sentenced to –"

A strange sound began to reverberate through the room.

"What's that noise?" Ultear asked in confusion.

As if on cue, the doors to the room suddenly blasted open, shattering into pieces, shocking all those inside as Natsu walked into the room.

Org snarled angrily and shouted, "What is the meaning of this?! Who are you and why are you interrupting this trial?!"

"N – Natsu?!" Erza exclaimed in surprise before raising both eyebrows in thought as she looked at him, noticing his eyes had a slight golden sheen to them and his hair seemed to be more unkempt and have a dark tint to it.

Natsu snarled and charged, "What do you think you're doing, blaming everything on Erza!?"

"Who do you think you are barreling in here?!" Org demanded again.

"A pissed off Dragon Slayer!"

Siegrain narrowed his eyes in thought.

Ultear watched Natsu curiously as a smirk grew on her lips.

"Natsu!" Erza interjected. "What are you doing?!"

"Sticking up for you that's what!" Natsu retorted. "I heard that Lullaby was sealed by the Council and they didn't thank us for destroying it!"

"You nearly destroyed a town when you did it!" Michello accused.

Natsu hissed before biting back, "And if we hadn't, Lullaby would have done much worse!"

"There was no reason to cause that much damage!" Leiji, a tall, middle-aged man with tan skin, and short black hair with large sideburns, wearing small, rounded, black sunglasses, wearing a brown shirt under a white and blue cloak, the hood up, along with green pants and black shoes argued.

Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Have you ever actually fought a Dark Mage? Or a monster? Or a demon?"

Erza blinked in thought as he spoke. ' _Natsu… he seems… different…_ '

Natsu folded his arms. "I'm waiting."

The large, bearded man, Crawford, raised a hand to quiet the other Councilors as they began squabbling. "No, we have not fought such creatures before."

Natsu nodded. "Then how do you know it's not necessary to use a lot of power against them? Hm? Or that most of the damage was caused by the creature itself? Hm?"

Belno sighed and replied, "Alright, let's say we see your point. What would you suggest we do about the people whose homes you destroyed in your battle?"

"Fix them. Wood magic is cheap."

Org narrowed his eyes and growled before shouting, "That's enough of this nonsense! Guards! Arrest them both! Throw them in a cell!"

"For what? Talking? I didn't know that was against the law. Or that saving lives was. Or tha…" Natsu began to sweat and shiver as his eyes slowly flickered between gold and brown, "that…" After a moment his hair and eyes returned to their normal shade and he collapsed, unconscious.

Everyone in the room merely stared in confusion.

* * *

Sometime later, Natsu groaned as he slowly woke up. He looked around and saw that he was lying on a hard, stone bench inside of a rough, rocky room with bars on the only opening, a prison cell. "Urgh… what happened…? My head hurts…" He turned slowly to the side and saw Erza sitting opposite him on a similar stone bench. "Oh, hey Erza…" He then immediately sat up energetically. "Erza!" He then looked around more curiously. "Wait, what the… where are we…?"

Erza frowned in thought. "Do you not remember?"

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "Hhmm… well I remember that stupid frog guy took you… then I got really mad… and now I'm here. Actually, where is here?"

"One of the Council's prison cells."

"… What!?"

Erza knocked him on the head. "Do not get riled up again. All the Council was going to do was give me a fine to pay and I would have been on my way. But because _you_ barged in and started acting strange we are both now stuck here."

Natsu rubbed his head in pain. "Acting stra – fine?! What for!?"

"For some of the damage we cause during our jobs. The Council was planning on just making an example out of me to the other guilds to try and lessen the amount of destruction that's caused, so hitting me with a fine would be the most efficient way. That would have been the end of it too."

Natsu huffed in annoyance. "Well that's dumb."

"Be that as it may, it would have ended with me simply getting a fine and going home, instead of us both ending up in a cell like this." After a pause, she smiled, "But… thank you."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For coming. It was an unnecessary act but it means a lot that you were so worried." She chuckled lightly before adding, "Though in the end it muddled matters even more. Now, how about you try not breaking any rules long enough for us to get out of here?"

Natsu nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Later that day, a guard walked up to the cell and opened the door. "Alright you two, you're free to go."

"Finally!" Natsu cheered excitedly before Erza slammed him to the ground.

"Calm down," she urged. "You should not break anything more than you have already."

* * *

Once they were upstairs, Erza turned to a clock and sighed. "They certainly took their sweet time, it is already noon."

"Urgh…" Natsu groaned. "I'm so hungry…"

As the two walked down the hallway, they saw Ultear walk towards them.

Erza nodded politely to the woman.

Ultear glanced at Natsu in thought and then smirked before turning to Erza. "You wouldn't mind if I borrowed your friend here for a moment, would you?"

"That is his decision," Erza answered.

Natsu shrugged. "I don't mind."

"Then I will see you at the guild," she replied before walking away.

Ultear put a hand on his shoulder. "Follow me for a moment."

Natsu raised an eyebrow but nodded.

* * *

Inside of Ultear's tall and rather extravagant office, which had a large, stained-glass window on the wall opposite the door, two winding staircases up to a second floor and multiple bookshelves on both floors filled with books.

"Man, Levy would love it in here," Natsu muttered. He then turned to Ultear and asked, "So, what do you want?"

"Not much," Ultear answered as she leaned against her desk. "First, I want to commend you on an impressive performance in front of the others."

Natsu frowned in confusion. "Really? I don't remember it that well…"

Ultear raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Natsu sighed in frustration. "Erza said I was acting weird too but I don't remember. I wonder why."

"Interesting," she muttered with a smirk before narrowing her eyes in thought. "Your name is Natsu, correct?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. Natsu Dragneel."

She stepped toward him with a playful smirk and put a hand on his chin. "Well, Natsu, would you be willing to do me a little favor? I'll pay you of course."

"Favor? What kind?"

Ultear walked back to her desk and picked up a small, wide, flat yellow box with a black bow tied around it. "I have a… friend who needs what's in this box. Unfortunately she needs it immediately and the Council couriers simply aren't fast enough. If you'll deliver this to her, swiftly, I'll pay you."

"Really?" Natsu asked as he took the box. "Okay," he answered with a nod, "I'll get it to her right away!"

Ultear smiled happily. "Thank you."

* * *

In one of Fiore's many forests, a short young girl with short pink hair and green eyes wearing gold, wing-like headgear on her head, a tight, purple and black leotard, brown, thigh-high boots with white stripes on top, and a red cape with a golden border stood next to a tree.

Suddenly, Natsu dropped to the ground next to her, surprising her.

"H – huh?" she muttered as she stepped back.

Natsu saluted lightly with a smile. "Yo. Are you Meldy?"

"Y – yes…" she answered timidly at the man's energetic demeanor.

He then handed her the box. "Here, Ultear told me to deliver this to you."

"Oh… thank you," she responded plainly as she took it.

Natsu looked around curiously. "Are you out here by yourself?"

Meldy nodded. "Yes."

"That's pretty dangerous, don't you think?"

Meldy raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It's dangerous for you to be out here on your own."

"I'm fine. I can handle myself," she answered simply.

Natsu folded his arms. "You sure? At least let me get you back home."

"That is not necessary," she answered before turning around and walking away.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What a weird kid." After a moment he sighed. "Well, guess I might as well head back to Ultear."

* * *

"I'm back," Natsu announced as he walked into Ultear's office as she sat, looking out the window behind her.

"Did you get her the package?" Ultear asked as she turned to him.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. You didn't mention that she'd be just a kid. A cute kid. What if some creep attacks her?"

Ultear blinked and then laughed. "You don't need to worry about Meldy. She's stronger than most adults. So even if someone tried they would fail."

Natsu frowned, unconvinced.

"Alright, if you're so worried about her, I have to send deliveries like this once every couple weeks. You can use those as an opportunity to check on her, how's that?"

Natsu nodded in acceptance.

"Good." She then walked over to him and handed him a small, flat object. "This is a communication lacrima. I'll let you know when I have another delivery, you come and get it and then take it to Meldy." She blinked in thought. "Oh, right." She then handed him a small bag. "There, that's about seventy thousand Jewel. I'll pay you that every time you make a delivery."

Natsu grinned. "Thanks!"

"Glad to hear it. You should probably return to your guild now. Oh, and if you wouldn't mind, keep our little exchanges a secret. The other Councilors don't like it when one of their members circumvents normal channels."

Natsu raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Okay."

"Good," Ultear responded simply with a smile.

* * *

"Aahh, home again!" Natsu said happily as he walked into the guildhall.

"Welcome back," Lucy welcomed before asking, "What took you so long?"

"Huh? Oh, one of the Councilors needed a favor."

"Ah…"

Natsu glanced to the side and saw a petite, slender young woman with shoulder-length blue hair tied back with a colorful bandana, leaving a few locks hanging down, framing her face and dark hazel eyes wearing a dark blue, skintight vest that was open around her chest, allowing her bright yellow bra to be seen around her generously-sized bust, along with white pants that reached her knees and brown sandals reading a book with complex symbols on the front. "Hey, Levy, what'cha readin'?" he asked.

The bluenette, Levy turned to him after a moment, engrossed in the book. "Huh? Oh, it's a book on a form of magic I heard about called alchemy. It's from way to the east."

"Alcamy?"

Levy chuckled lightly before shaking her head. "No, no, alchemy. Here, let me show you." She then grabbed a wooden spoon from nearby and snapped it in two. She placed the two halves of the broken spoon on the table and then drew a complex circle around them with chalk. She then placed her hands on the circle, causing it to light up bright blue before bursting with smoke. After the smoke cleared it revealed the wooden spoon, now repaired.

"Whoa! So cool!" Natsu exclaimed right before the spoon crumbled.

Levy laughed in embarrassment. "Unfortunately it's really complex, and requires a lot of knowledge of chemistry."

"Think you could show me?"

Levy's face turned red before she answered, "U – uh… yeah, sure… if… you… want…" However, she soon trailed off and fell asleep.

Natsu then noticed everyone else in the guild was put under the same effect.

Even Makarov showed the effects of whatever was causing the strange turn of events.

"Mystogan…" Gray growled before he finally fell asleep along with the rest of the guild.

Natsu, barely managing to stay awake, shook his head with a growl.

Makarov turned to the side as a man wearing a dark blue cloak, a dark blue bandana with a forehead protector, a green mask that covered most of his face, a blue and grey outfit that left his arms and lower legs exposed, those being covered with bandages, as well as dark blue gloves, entered the building through the main door.

Makarov grunted as the man walked by him. "Mystogan… release them…"

Mystogan made only a cursory glance at Makarov before turning to see Natsu, who was still somewhat conscious like Makarov himself, and tilted his head.

Natsu clenched a fist, straining to remain conscious.

Mystogan looked down some and then walked to the request board. "The spell will lift in three…" he grabbed a flier and turned around to leave, "… two…" he walked towards the door, "… one…" and then walked out the door and vanished.

As the spell lifted and the others awoke, Natsu snarled and remarked, "I hate being drowsy."

As the others woke up, Gray rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort. "Geez, I know Mystogan's obsessed with hiding what he looks like, but does he really need to put everyone to sleep like that?"

"Whoa… what was that…?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"Mystogan," Macao answered. "He's a shady guy who has a habit of putting everyone to sleep when he comes to get a job."

Erza nodded and responded, "Yes. He shows up, puts everyone to sleep with a spell, takes a job, and then leaves. Only the Master knows what he actually looks like."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Huh? You mean the old man saw him without the cloak?"

"Cloak… wait, you actually saw him this time?" Gray asked.

Natsu scratched his head. "Not really… it took all I had just to stay awake, but I saw he had a weird cloak on."

A new, condescending, voice then interjected, "Don't forget about me you weaklings. I know what that fool looks like too."

Everyone turned and looked up to the second level of the guildhall to see a very tall and muscular man with blue-grey eyes, slicked back, spiky blonde hair, a lightning-shaped scar on the right side of his face, wearing a pair of spiked headphones over his ears, a dark orange tunic with leopard spots on it, a black cape with fur on the edges, loose, baggy red pants, and black shoes sat in a chair on the upper level of the guildhall.

Lucy frowned and asked, "Whoa… who's that jerk…?"

"Laxus," Erza answered.

Gray nodded. "Yeah. He, like Erza and Mystogan, are known as one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards."

"Laxus!" Natsu shouted up at him.

Laxus smirked. "Don't beat around the bush, I'm not _one_ of the strongest, I _am_ the strongest. There's no way I'd lose to anyone else, Erza or Mystogan included."

Natsu narrowed his eyes before leaping up towards Laxus. "Why y –!"

The last of his sentence was cut off as Makarov's fist suddenly enlarged and slammed Natsu down on the ground. "No, Natsu. You know that only a select few are allowed on the second floor."

"He insulted Erza!" Natsu shouted back, "She can kick his sparking ass! And Gildarts could obliterate him!"

"That's not your problem, Natsu. Now stand down."

Natsu growled. "Then have him come down here so I can beat him up!"

"That is enough, Natsu," Erza interjected. "I can advocate for my own power. Now," she stopped as she grabbed him by the collar, "I have something I want to try out, and so you will be coming with me."

"Huh?" Natsu mumbled before Erza dragged him out the door.

"Poor kid," Macao lamented, "he's probably in for a real beating."

Mirajane giggled in amusement. "Oh I think he'll be okay."

"Huh?" Lucy mumbled in thought.

"Don't worry," Mirajane smiled.

"Right… hey, can I ask you something?"

Mirajane raised an eyebrow but then nodded. "Sure."

"Why is the upper level off limits?"

"That's where we keep the jobs that are S-Class and higher," Lisanna explained. "Only S-Class mages are permitted to take them since they're so dangerous."

"Huh…" Lucy muttered in thought.

* * *

Sometime later, Lucy sat at one of the many tables in the guildhall when she watched Natsu walk in with a wide grin. Moments after he did, Erza made her way into the guild with a slight limp before shivering as she sat.

Lucy flattened her brow and turned to Mirajane before asking, "Do I even –?"

"No," Mirajane interrupted with a smile before walking away.

A slim young woman with long, mid-back length purple hair with two bangs framing her face and short bangs covering her forehead and brown eyes wearing a red ribbon atop her head, round, frameless glasses, a light blue dress with dark blue stripes on it that reached just below her waist, a red cravat tie around the folded collar of her coat, dark brown, tight pants that were tucked into white boots, and a brown satchel on her waist sat quietly, a small frown on her face as she watched the two walk in.

Macao raised an eyebrow as Natsu sat down, still grinning. "Well you look happy. Did you actually beat Erza?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow in thought before his grin reappeared. "I guess you could say that."

Erza merely coughed into her hand.

Lucy sighed and then turned and saw the purple-haired girl sitting next to her, glaring angrily. "U – uh… are you okay…?"

The girl suddenly flinched and turned to her. "H – huh…?"

"You look… kinda mad…"

The girl shook her head vigorously. "N – no, I'm fine!"

"Right… say, I don't think I've met you before."

The purplette nodded and answered, "I'm Laki. Laki Olietta. You're the newest member of the guild, Lucy, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Yep, that's me." With a sigh she stood and turned to the door. "Well, I think I'm going to go home. I've seen enough crazy for one day."

"Have a good day," Lisanna said happily as the blonde left.

Laki sighed heavily and then slumped her shoulders. "I need something… some way to one-up Erza… but how…?" She then glanced to the side and saw a piece of paper on the floor. She picked it up and read it before smirking. "Perfect."

* * *

Lucy sighed in relief after getting out of her shower. "Man… that's refreshing."

"Yo, Lucy," Natsu greeted as he stood next to her.

"Kya!" Lucy shrieked as she kicked him away. "What the hell are you doing in here?!"

"Ow…"

"What do you mean?" Happy asked.

"Why did you break into my apartment, again!?" Lucy demanded.

Natsu stood up with a groan. "I found us a job," he said with a grin.

"H – huh…?"

Natsu then pointed to Laki, standing next to him. "Actually, she found it for us."

"What, seriously?!"

Laki nodded with a smile. "Yup."

Happy then showed the job request to Lucy.

Lucy looked at it curiously and then paled. "Wait… this is one of the S-Class jobs, we can't take these!"

Laki tilted her head in confusion. "Why? It was just lying on the ground."

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that?" Lucy deadpanned.

"It's the truth! It was just lying there."

Lucy sighed. "Why?"

Laki shrugged. "Don't know. But it was. So I took it. Since it wasn't on the top floor it should be fine."

"That's some screwy logic! Look, Mira told me that those S-Class jobs can only be taken by S-Class mages, and none of us are that."

"The reward is a Zodiac key," Happy explained as he pointed to the reward.

"What are you guys waiting for, let's go!" Lucy urged, suddenly dressed in her usual outfit.

* * *

Back at the guildhall, Mirajane walked down from the upper level holding a tray of dishes. "Master, one of the S-Class Jobs is missing."

Makarov sat silently for a moment before suddenly spitting his coffee. "What!?"

"Yeah, I can't find it."

"Uh-oh," Lisanna interjected. "Who could've taken it?"

Juvia walked around the guildhall in consternation. "Oh… where could Natsu-Sama have gone?" She then glared angrily. "Did fire crotch take him when Juvia wasn't looking?"

Makarov gaped. "Wonderful… since he took it without permission he'll have to be expelled when he returns. _If_ he returns that is."

Levy then asked in confusion, "Hey, have you guys seen Laki?"

Lisanna shook her head. "No clue, I saw her walking out with a… job… earlier… Oh boy."

The others sighed in exasperation.

Cana sighed and then remarked, "It's no secret that purple-haired sadist has a crush on Natsu. I wouldn't be surprised if she did something stupid like this to get his attention."

Makarov growled angrily. "Ggrr… Laxus! Bring them back!"

Laxus sneered in derision. "Huh? No way. I don't give a damn what those idiots do. Besides, I've got a job to do."

Makarov groaned. "We need someone strong enough to bring them back safely…"

* * *

As Natsu and the others prepared to leave the city, Natsu turned to them and explained, "Hey, I wanna stop by my house and grab something before we go."

Laki's eyes immediately lit up.

Lucy sighed. "Fine."

* * *

Shortly later, the three walked up to a small, poorly built house on the edge of Magnolia.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow. "Th – this… shack is… your house…?" She then glanced to the side and noticed a sign pointing to the house with the names Natsu, Happy, Holo, Chizuru, and Himari on it. After a moment of thought she asked, "Hey, Natsu, who are these people?"

"Huh? Oh, friends of mine."

"Well you certainly took your sweet time coming back, Natsu," a new voice chimed in slyly.

Lucy flinched and looked ahead as a girl with long, knee-length, golden blonde hair, with bangs that hung just above her bright purple eyes, two long locks framing her face and falling just above her large bust, and, most strikingly, a pair of foxlike ears and a foxlike tail with a white tip just above her round bottom wearing a black kimono with flower patterns on it walked out the door with a thin grin.

Natsu grinned happily. "Yo, Chizuru!" he greeted.

"Welcome back," a young woman with knee-length dark blue hair, with full bangs just above her violet eyes, two chin-length locks framing her face, and a set of white catlike ears atop her head and a matching catlike tail above her rump, wearing a simple white kimono with a red obi, fallen partially open, exposing much of her full bosom, said calmly as she popped up over Chizuru's shoulder.

Natsu waved to the blue-haired woman. "Hey, Himari."

"You know, you've got some nerve keeping us waiting so long," a sultry voice said as a young woman with long, waist-length brown hair, with straight-cut bangs just above her bright red eyes, two long locks hanging down just above her moderate bust, as well as two pointed wolf-like ears and a matching tail, both with white tips, wearing a pink blouse with long sleeves that had purple cuffs, a red sash around her waist, dark brown pants that stopped in the middle of her calves, two blue rings around her ankles, and brown slippers jumped down from a tree.

Lucy gaped in confusion as the three gathered in front of her. "HHHUUUHHH!? Who are these women?! _What_ are these women?!"

Natsu blinked in thought. "Oh, right, you haven't met them yet." Pointing to the woman with fox ears, he said, "This is Chizuru, she's a Kitsune."

Chizuru bowed with a smile, her bust swaying.

Pointing to the woman with cat ears, he added, "This is Himari, she's a Nekomata."

Himari bowed respectfully.

"And this is Holo, she's a Werewolf."

Holo pouted slightly. "I prefer the term Inukami, but I suppose Werewolf is acceptable."

Lucy's eyes widened. "S – seriously?! Y - you LIVE with Youkai?!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why?"

"You didn't know?" Laki asked.

"How would I!?" Lucy retorted in irritation.

Chizuru walked up to Natsu and pressed against, her chest flattening against his side as she did. "Come on, Natsu, give me some of that _mana_. I haven't had any for days…"

Natsu frowned and remarked, "But I've got a job that needs doing, Chizuru."

Chizuru pouted in dismay.

Holo raised an eyebrow as her tail swayed behind her. "Then what'd you come all the way out here for?"

"I came to get Dekaforce," Natsu replied, "I'll probably need it on this job."

Chizuru pouted. "Aaww, why not stay a while and make kits with me?"

Lucy blinked in thought and then turned red. "K – kits?! As in… b – babies!?"

"Of course!" Chizuru said with a smile.

Natsu patted the golden-haired Kitsune on the head. "Sorry, I have to go. Maybe when I get back." He then made his way inside the small house.

"So are you his newest mate?"

Lucy turned to her in shock. "H – huh!?"

Holo whacked Chizuru on the back of the head. "She's asking if you're one of Natsu's new lovers."

Lucy's face turned bright red. "No!"

Chizuru frowned slightly. "Aaww, you're really missing out."

Before Lucy could answer, Natsu made his way back out of the house with a large, double-edged sword with a triangle shaped guard near the base that had an intricate gold and black pattern on it, and a cross-shaped slot just above the guard slung on his back.

"Wow that's a big sword!" Lucy suddenly shouted, partially in surprise and partially to redirect attention.

Chizuru huffed in annoyance.

Natsu nodded with a smirk as he grabbed the handle. "Yup! It's called the Dekaforce Sword. An old man named Shiva Roses gave it to me. He told me some stuff about something called a Rave Stone but I don't really get it. All I know is that this sword packs a wallop." He then grinned confidently. "Plus I'm the only one who can use it."

"Yeah right," Lucy rebutted dismissively.

"He really is," Laki interjected. "Erza, Gray, Master, and even Elfman all tried to lift it and none of them could." With a snicker, Laki added, "He even left Laxus embarrassed since he couldn't lift it either."

Lucy folded her arms in obstinate disbelief.

Natsu pulled the sword from his back with one hand and handed it toward Lucy. "Here. Try it."

Lucy raised an eyebrow and wrapped her hands around the hilt of the sword.

Natsu then released the blade from his grip and, immediately upon doing so, Lucy felt the sword become immensely heavy, causing it to drop to the ground, pulling her with it.

She flopped down swiftly, her skirt flew up.

Holo blinked curiously as she looked at the blonde's now visible undergarments. "Pink? Really?"

Lucy swiftly and immediately sat up, pushing her skirt down. "D – don't look! Geez… that thing really is heavy…"

Natsu then picked the sword up with one hand and slung it over his back.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow.

"Do you really have to go so soon?" Chizuru asked as she grabbed onto Natsu's arm.

Natsu smiled and patted her head again. "Yes, but don't worry, I'll be back soon."

"We ready to go?" Laki asked.

Natsu nodded as he, Lucy, Laki, and Happy walked away from the small house, Chizuru, Himari, and Holo waving as they left.

* * *

As the group made their way down a road towards the location of the job, Lucy hummed in thought. "You know… even though I agreed to go on this job… I don't know the details…"

"There's a place called Galuna Island that's cursed. The job is to lift the curse," Happy explained.

"What!?"

"Shouldn't be too hard," Natsu muttered.

Lucy looked at the job flyer in thought. "Well if this map is right, the island's located near Hargeon Town… oh great…"

"What?" Laki asked.

"Well… we had a little… incident in Hargeon."

"Yeah, that Bora guy tried to kidnap Lucy!" Happy added.

Lucy nodded as a shiver worked its way up her spine. "Yeah, there was this creep named Bora who tried to take me and a bunch of other girls to Bosco as slaves."

"Did you torture them?" Laki asked plainly.

"Huh? No. Natsu nearly blew up half the town and we had to leg it."

"Oh."

* * *

Soon, the group made their way to Hargeon's port and began looking around.

"So… How do we get there?" Lucy wonder aloud.

"Let's ask the sailors," Laki suggested. "Maybe one of them will take us."

"Why do we have to take a boat?" Natsu asked. "We can just ride on Ophi! And I won't get sick!"

However, Gray, whom had arrived with Flare, suddenly interjected, "You're not going anywhere."

The three shouted in shock.

"G – Gray!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"You're giving up this mission and we're heading back to the guild," Gray asserted.

"Not a chance, stripper," Natsu argued.

"Yes you will, you idiot! If you don't you'll all be expelled from the guild!"

"E – expelled!?" Lucy exclaimed in fear.

Natsu raised his fists which alit with bright orange flames. "Just try me!"

"Why you –!" Gray began to shout before Flare hit him over the head with a large rock.

Flare sighed as she threw the stone aside. "The conversation was boring anyway."

Lucy gaped and paled. "Isn't that excessive!?"

Flare turned to her with a plain expression. "What? Natsu wants to go on this mission. I'm not going to let the ice-brain stop him." Flare's hair extended outward and wrapped around Gray to bind him before Flare cut it and tied a knot with the hair coiled around the unconscious mage. She then turned to Natsu. "How are we getting there?"

Natsu grinned and pulled out Ophiuchus' key. "Open, Gate of the Snake Charmer: Ophiuchus!"

* * *

Later, Natsu, Lucy, Laki, Flare, Happy, and the unconscious Gray rode on the back of the large mechanical snake as it swam through the waters.

Holding tightly and with trepidation, Lucy asked, "Uhm… why are we going through the water instead of the air…?"

Natsu turned back to her in thought. "Huh? Oh. It's easier on Ophi to move through the air instead of the sky."

"Ophi?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. Her full name's hard to remember, so I call her Ophi."

"Ah… wait, HER?! This thing's female?!"

Natsu frowned crossly. "Hey! She's not a thing! She's a friend!"

Lucy flinched at his biting shout. "O – oh… right."

Laki turned to look at Gray but then gaped in shock. "Behind us! Huge wave! Fly! Fly!"

Natsu's eyes widened. "Crap! She can't move that fast! Ophi! Get out of the water!"

The large snake attempted to maneuver out of the water only to be hit and nearly crushed under the wave.

* * *

Sometime later, Natsu groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. After opening his eyes, however, he blinked in confusion. "… Pink…?"

Lucy groaned as she awoke and then sat up before looking around. "Ooowww… Huh… where'd everybody go…?"

"Where am I?" Natsu asked, his voice muffled.

Lucy immediately turned red as she felt unexpected movement. "KYA!" She shrieked before immediately standing and stomping Natsu' face into the ground.

"Gah!" the pink-haired teen shouted in pain.

The commotion caused the others to awake.

Flare grumbled as she sat up. "What the… where are we…?"

"No clue…" Laki replied.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Happy asked as he pointed across the nearby waters to a wide stretch of land in the distance.

Lucy paled in disbelief. "Th – that's… Hargeon… I… guess we're… on the island now…"

"Great!" Natsu cheered as he stood.

"Not great!" Gray rebuked as he sat up, still bound. "Now untie me!"

"Nope," Natsu rebutted plainly.

Gray sighed in frustration. "Look, I obviously can't take you back now. So I'll help you with the job, so just untie me."

Natsu folded his arms in amused thought. "Hhmm…"

Lucy sighed. "Come on, Natsu, he agreed to help."

Natsu furrowed his brow in annoyance. "Tch, fine."

Flare then snapped her fingers, causing the hair around Gray to break and slacken.

Gray stood up and flexed his stiff muscles. "Okay, so the base for the job is the village on this island, right? So let's find it."

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu dismissed.

"Also, if we do complete the mission, Makarov'll have to at least acknowledge us enough not to expel is."

Natsu grinned confidently. "Then let's get started!"

* * *

Soon enough, as the sun began to fall over the horizon, they found their way to the small village in the middle of the island where the job request had initially come from.

"This is the place?" Lucy asked uncomfortably.

"It looks abandoned," Flare mentioned as they looked into the village, its many huts dark and not a soul in the village itself.

"Yeah…" Laki muttered as she stepped toward Natsu timidly.

Natsu then took in a heavy breath and shouted, "Hhheeellllllooo! Is anybody there!?"

Lucy slammed his head into the ground. "You moron!"

It was then that the villagers began coming out of their homes and towards the village square where Natsu and the others were.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Uhm… why are they all wearing cloaks?"

"Are you the village chief?" Gray asked to a short, old man with tan skin, long silver sideburns running from the length of his face down to his hips, small dark eyes, and wearing a necklace made of what appeared to be large animal teeth centered with a skull, a dark blue cape that draped down from his shoulders to the back of his knees, a white, tribal kilt with two green lines at the bottom and a red dot circled by a red circle, a series of golden rings on his wrists and legs as he walked up to the group, his long wooden staff with a crescent moon-shaped head helping him stand.

The old man nodded. "I am Moka, the village chief. Are you the wizards who have come to lift our curse?"

"Maybe you should tell us a little more about this curse of yours first," Lucy interjected.

Moka nodded and told them, "It started some time ago, though I do not remember exactly, when the moon turned a deep purple color in the sky. Whenever the moon shines down directly on us our bodies morph into that of demons."

"H – huh…?"

The villagers, including Moka, all dropped the cloaks they wore, exposing various mutated limbs or other extraneous deformities on their bodies, Moka's in particular being his right forearm, which resembled a large blue claw.

Natsu raised an eyebrow curiously.

Moka went on to explain, "As you can see, it's mutated us into horrible beasts."

Lucy was about to ask a question when the clouds in the sky, which had been hiding the moon from view, moved aside and allowed the light to shine down directly onto the tribe, all of them morphing fully into demonic forms.

Lucy and the others were taken aback at the sight.

Moka sighed heavily and then continued, "Normally, by morning we transform back into our human forms. But sometimes the transformation is complete and permanent, the victim losing their mind entirely." Tears then began to flow from the old man's eyes. "And when this happens, we have no choice but to kill that person before they harm the rest of us. Such was the case with my son, Bobo."

"How do we lift it?" Lucy asked.

"There is only one way to resolve this curse."

"What is it?" Laki asked.

"You must destroy the moon!" Moka shouted frantically.

"WHAT!?" they all shouted in shock.

"Destroy the moon?!" Lucy blurted in disbelief.

"Even I think that's absurd," Flare noted.

Lucy chuckled weakly. "Well… doing something like that will take time to plan out, so do you mind if we stay a night or two?"

Moka shook his head. "No, it is quite alright, we have a spare house you may use."

Flare immediately wrapped her arms around one of Natsu's and asserted, "We'll take it!"

Lucy sighed.

Laki puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

* * *

Inside the hut, Natsu, Gray, and Happy stayed in one room while Lucy, Flare, and Laki stayed in the other, separate room.

In the girls' room, Flare turned to the other two and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Huh?" Lucy mumbled in confusion as she looked over the job in thought.

"Why are you both here?" Flare reiterated.

"I'm here to get the Zodiac key!" Lucy answered instantly. But after a short pause to think of how her sudden words sounded, she added, "A – and to help the villagers of course…"

"I've got my own reasons," Laki answered roughly, "none of which are your concern."

Flare narrowed her eyes.

Lucy then turned the questioning on Flare. "What about you?"

With no compunction, Flare answered, "I volunteered to come with the stripper so I could join up with Natsu. Simple as that. And I was hoping that this hut had private rooms."

Laki sighed and pouted in frustration before muttering, "Lucky bitch."

* * *

Natsu laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling in boredom before yawning heavily. "Man… why couldn't there be private rooms in this thing?"

Gray glanced at him in confusion before turning back over in his bed. "What for? These rooms are just fine."

"No they aren't…" Natsu pouted.

"Just go to sleep. That's what bedrooms are for."

Natsu shot him a deadpan look of disbelief.

Gray twitched an eyebrow, feeling the stare on his back, before sitting up and turning to the fire-breathing teen. "What? You got a problem?"

"Clueless," Natsu muttered plainly.

Gray hissed in derision. "Oh that's rich, coming from a blockhead like you."

"Ssstttuuupppiiiddd," Natsu sneered.

Gray snarled. "Cram it flame-breath! You're too stupid to be calling me stupid!"

"The hell does that even mean?!" Natsu argued as he sat up, irritated.

"That you're stupid!"

"Obviously not if as much as you can't figure out why private rooms would –!"

Natsu was interrupted as Lucy banged on the wall and shouted through it, "SHUT UP!"

Gray banged on the wall right back. "Make me!"

As if on cue, a giant fist made of red hair slammed through the wall and hit Gray hard, knocking him unconscious.

Natsu sat silently in thought before suggesting, "Hey Flare! Help me throw Gray out of the room!"

The giant fist made of hair grabbed Gray and threw at and through the door to the room.

Flare then immediately walked into the room, close the cracked door, and used her hair to prop up Gray's now vacated mattress against the hole she had made in the wall.

* * *

The next morning, Lucy stood in the doorway into Flare and Natsu's room in disbelief as she saw Flare, nude and her abdomen engorged, lying on the bed. "J – just… what the hell did you two do last night…?"

"Sex," Natsu answered plainly.

"Eh!?"

Laki twitched an eyebrow before she walked angrily over to Flare and pressed her hands down on the unconscious redhead's abdomen, causing something to spill out onto the bed.

"EEEHHH!?" Lucy shrieked in shock and confusion as Flare moaned.

After a moment, the redhead roused from her sleep and sat up, noting that her abdomen was flat, causing a small frown to work its way onto her lips. "All gone…"

"Get up," Laki demanded in annoyance.

Gray then unexpectedly hit Natsu on the back of the head with a scowl. "What's the deal, jackass?!"

"What the hell was that for!?" Natsu retaliated, confused and angry.

"Knockin' me out and then throwin' me into the hallway! I should knock your block –!"

Gray's tirade was ended as another giant fist of hair punched him against the wall, knocking him out.

Flare sighed as she stood up before her hair coiled and covered her body, forming her usual red dress.

"Huh!?" Lucy blurted in surprise.

"What now blondie?" Flare asked in irritation.

"Y – your clothes…!"

"What about them?" Flare asked in confusion.

Laki huffed in annoyance. "Come on, let's explore the island and see if we can find the source of this curse."

"Right!" Natsu cheered excitedly.

* * *

The group began their investigation, looking through section of forest after section of forest, finding nothing but traps, all of which Natsu activated, usually getting Gray hurt, or finding a whole lot of nothing.

"Man this is boring," Natsu grumbled as he walked down one of the paths, an annoyed Gray pulling needles from his skin behind him.

After a moment, Laki grinned mischievously. "Hey, how about we split into two-man teams and look? I'll go with Natsu and Lucy and Flare can be a team."

"What about me?" Gray asked, hissing as he pulled a piece of wood from his side.

"That looks like a nice cliff there," Laki said simply.

"Screw you! I'm not jumping off that!" Gray retorted right before Laki kicked him, sending him flying off the ledge. "YYYOOOUUU BBBIIITTTCCCHHH!"

* * *

 **And there you have it, folks! This concludes chapter the fourth chapter of Embodiment of Flame. Hope everyone, or at least most of you, enjoyed it. If you did, be sure to post a review saying so, I always appreciate it. If you were confused or unsure about anything, do not forget to post a review as well and I will do what I can to address your questions. If you did not like it, feel free to post a review as well, though you would be better served going and doing something else you actually enjoy. I have nothing else to add, so until next time, buh-bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

 **Hello and greetings to all! Welcome to the fifth chapter of Embodiment of Flame! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. A good portion of you seemed to like it. I also hope you enjoy this one, post a review if you do or if you are confused or unsure on anything. Moving on, I would like to thank my coauthor, Bakuto Masaki, as usual, for all his hard work with me on this story. At any rate, it is time to move on to the reviewer responses, one of my favorite parts, as I thoroughly enjoy interacting with my audience. It... _is_ appropriate to refer to you all as an audience... right? Whatever, moving on.**

 **FanFictionHunter: Yes. In the early chapters of the manga and the first few episodes in which she appeared, Levy was actually rather busty. I like that version better so I chose it. I can't tell you the whole list for the harem, seeing as it would spoil some aspects of the story. But sharing his current mates shouldn't be too bad. Erza, Mira, Lisanna, Flare, Juvia, Cana, and the three Youkai.**

 **That is a rather... interesting idea.**

 **Yes, it is that sword, though I call it Dekaforce to differentiate it from Knightwalker's spear, Ten Commandments. No, I can't say exactly when Rave Master will get involved, but it will most definitely be on Earth Land, not Edolas.**

 **Jalis: Yeah, I like Laki quite a lot as well, and I don't think she got enough exposure in the anime. And yes, three monsters, Mamono, Youkai, whatever you want to call them. Yes, a hint. Yeah, you're one of the more... respectful people with a "dissenting opinion" as it were, so I feel inclined to be respectful back. Yeah, he'll only use them when needed since they suck up so much mana, I only had him use Flame God Slayer at that point to make it known he has it.**

 **Mexican ninja1996: Calm down man, you need to stop huffing the nitrous oxide.**

 **JMK2: I thought that would be a rather amusing moment.**

 **dragneel harem: It has been hinted throughout the entire story that Natsu is "active" with the girls. So it is not out of nowhere.**

 **TheWhiteTitan: Thank you. And yes, they are.**

 **treeofsakuras: Oh I'm fairly sure you'll like it.**

 **I've answered this question earlier in this response.**

 **Yes, Mira is in.**

 **correnhimself316: Thanks. Who knows, maybe he can. Yes, he certainly would. No, the Lightning Dragon Slayer and Flame God Slayer Magics aren't really compatible. He'd have to combine it with another Flame Slayer Magic or another God Slayer Magic. But yes, something like Lightning Flame God Slayer Mode would be incredibly powerful.**

 **Well, that is all there is for reviews, so onto the actual chapter, hm?**

* * *

The group began their investigation, looking through section of forest after section of forest, finding nothing but traps, all of which Natsu activated, usually getting Gray hurt, or finding a whole lot of nothing.

"Man this is boring," Natsu grumbled as he walked down one of the paths, an annoyed Gray pulling needles from his skin behind him.

After a moment, Laki grinned mischievously. "Hey, how about we split into two-man teams and look? I'll go with Natsu and Lucy and Flare can be a team."

"What about me?" Gray asked, hissing as he pulled a piece of wood from his side.

"That looks like a nice cliff there," Laki said simply.

"Screw you! I'm not jumping off that!" Gray retorted right before Laki kicked him, sending him flying off the ledge. "YYYOOOUUU BBBIIITTTCCCHHH!"

Laki turned to Natsu with a smile. "Now let's go, Natsu."

"Hey! Get back here!" Flare demanded as they walked away.

Lucy sighed. "Come on, let's go. They can't hear us."

Flare pouted but followed behind her.

* * *

As Natsu and Laki walked down the path through the forest, Laki had her arms wrapped around one of Natsu's with a wide smile.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Uuhh, you ok?"

Laki pumped a fist into the air happily. "Yup! Just fine!"

"Okay…?" Natsu answered with mild confusion.

"Right! Now, let's go find the source of that curse!"

Natsu shrugged, grinned, and then pumped a fist into the air as well. "Right!"

After a few moments of walking, Laki looked around the area and noted, "Man, this island is huge."

"Yep," Happy answered as he walked behind the two.

Laki twitched an eyebrow and turned to the small blue cat. "What are you doing here? I said two-man teams."

Happy pointed to himself. "I'm a cat."

Laki grumbled in annoyance. "Just get lost."

Happy pouted. "Aaww… Natsu, she's bein' mean!"

"How about you go search from the air?" Laki immediately responded.

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

"Okay!" Happy cheered before his wings sprouted from his back and he soared into the air.

After the cat left, Laki resumed her grip on Natsu's arm and sighed in relief. "Aahh, there. Finally alone."

Natsu raised an eyebrow curiously. "What for?"

Laki flinched slightly and then laughed weakly. "H – huh? O – oh, uh, no reason…"

"Okay…?"

* * *

The two continued walking through the forest in silence before Laki's shoulders slumped slightly. "… Hey, Natsu…"

"Yeah?"

However, before Laki could continue, an explosion shook the air nearby.

"Oh what now?!" Laki shouted in annoyance.

At that moment, Lucy and Flare came running towards the two with a giant mouse in a makeshift maid uniform chasing them.

"What the hell!?"

"Hheellpp uuss!" Lucy begged loudly.

"My flames won't hurt that thing!" Flare added.

After a moment of pause Laki immediately rushed past the two.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Lucy shouted in disbelief.

Laki stood as the giant mouse approached and took in a deep breath. "Wood Dragon Roar!" she bellowed before a sudden storm of wooden spears shot forth, flying at the giant mouse, slamming into it hard, and sending it flying away.

Lucy gaped in disbelief. "… YOU'RE A DRAGON SLAYER!?"

Laki nodded with a mild blush. "Y – yeah… a Wood Dragon Slayer."

"W – wow…"

Flare twitched an eyebrow in annoyance and then smirked. "So what do you eat? Tree bark?"

"Vegetables," Laki answered plainly as she pulled a carrot out of her pocket.

Flare frowned in annoyance.

Natsu grinned as he ran up to Laki. "That was so cool!"

Laki stepped back surprised, her face turning deep red. "U – uh… th – thanks…"

"Hey, you guys!" Happy called as he flew down towards the group. "I found something!"

Lucy sighed before turning to see Gray, exhausted and covered in dirt and leaves, ran weakly towards the group, panting. "… About… time… I… found… you…"

"Huh. You survived," Laki remarked plainly.

"You expected me not to!?" Gray growled.

"There's this really weird temple over there," Happy explained. "We should check it out."

"Good idea!" Natsu agreed cheerily.

* * *

Eventually, following Happy's poor direction, the group made their way to a large, ancient temple.

"Hey! That's mean!"

Shut it.

"Okay…"

"Whoa… that thing's huge…" Natsu commented as he looked up towards the top of the temple.

"I wonder where the entrance is…" Lucy wondered.

Natsu clenched his fists as he walked up to the aged building. "If we can't find the entrance we'll just make our own! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he shouted before slamming a flaming fist into the side of the structure, blowing a hole in it.

The others merely gaped in disbelief.

"Idiot…" Gray grumbled.

Natsu grinned proudly. "See? Door."

Lucy sighed. "Come on, let's go ahead and go in."

* * *

The group made their way through the temple, though finding a path leading to any location that seemed significant was a fruitless task.

Lucy was herself particularly tense. "You know…this temple has to be thousands of years old. You sure it's safe?"

Natsu grinned and answered as he stamped a foot, "'Course it is! It can handle me stamping can't it?!"

A lumbering cracking and creaking sound then emanated through the area.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow. "… Idiot."

At that moment the ground they were standing on cracked and crumbled, causing the whole group to plummet straight down a deep hole into an abyss of darkness.

* * *

After a few moments the group reawakened and looked around.

Lucy groaned as she sat up. "Great… now where are we?"

"No clue…" Laki answered as she sat up.

"This is nice…" Natsu muttered with a muffled voice.

"Huh?" Lucy mumbled in thought. "What's ni –?" she suddenly stopped as she looked down and realized she had landed, yet again, on Natsu's face. "Kya!" she screamed as she sat up suddenly.

Laki, whom had landed behind Lucy, turned in curiousity, before feeling something strange and turned to see that, she too, had landed on Natsu.

Natsu merely looked at her curiously.

Flare grumbled in annoyance before she formed a giant fist made of hair to grab Laki and throw her off.

Laki growled in annoyance.

Lucy sighed as she sat up. "Geez, my hair's getting totally messed up with all this tumbling and falling."

As Gray adjusted his shoulder he rebutted, "I think your hair isn't as important as my arm. Doesn't feel broken at least. Where are we exactly?"

"Some kind of cave it seems," Flare answered.

Gray flexed his neck and mentioned, "Well since dumbass got is stuck down here, might as well look around."

Natsu huffed as he stood up. "This coming from the man that doesn't realize what private bedrooms are for."

"Seriously?" Laki and Flare asked in unified disbelief.

"Yup."

"Geez… so we went from a forest, to a temple, to a giant cave. What's next, a giant ice cube?" Lucy muttered in annoyance.

* * *

The team paled as they perused the caves before finding a massive block of ice inside a cavern.

"Uhh… are you psychic?" Laki asked.

Lucy gaped. "You gotta be kidding me… this is ridiculous…"

Happy snickered and then belted out, "No. This. Is. FAIRY TAIL!"

"Cram it!" Lucy snarled as she kicked him down a nearby pit.

After a moment of gawking, Laki narrowed her eyes as she stared at the ice chunk. "Hang on… I think there's actually something inside the ice."

They then noticed a massive, humanoid, monstrous creature inside the block of ice.

"This… can't be…" Gray remarked in awe and fear.

The others turned and noticed him trembling.

"Gray…?" Lucy asked worriedly. "What's wrong…?"

"That… thing. That's a demon… called Deliora…"

Lucy then began trembling as she turned back to the creature in the ice. "W – wait… by demon… do you mean the monsters created by the Dark Wizard Zeref…? The same guy who made Lullaby…? But… I didn't think they were all this big…"

"This one's an exception," Gray interrupted.

"Whaddya mean?" Natsu asked frustrated.

"Deliora's an extremely powerful demon that ravaged my homeland and destroyed the entire countryside ten years ago. Ur, the woman who taught me how to use Ice Make Magic in the first place, gave her life to seal this thing away for good. So why the hell is it here!?"

"Someone dragged it here?"

"But why?"

Laki turned as she heard sounds approaching the group. "Oh no. Someone's coming! Everyone hide!" she shouted in a whisper.

As they all ducked behind a rock, a group of people approached the frozen Deliora.

The first of the group was a slim young man with extremely bushy, squared, black eyebrows, black eyes, and bright blue hair spiking upwards with one prominent spike at the top who wore a green coat reaching down to his knees with dark green sections on the outer arms and the side's lower sections, a plain belt with a rectangular buckle over the coat, two vertical hems that helped keep the coat closed, dark blue pants that were baggy and loose fitting and light grey shoes.

The second member of the group was a lean-built, muscular young man with shoulder-length, straight brown hair, large round eyes with dark irises and pupils, slim, dark brown eyebrows, lightly tanned skin, a dark tattoo on his right upper arm that had the symbols for "sashimi" printed on it, and distinctive animal features, ears and a doglike muzzle on his face, who wore extremely loose-fitting jeans that were lightly tattered, a black belt to hold them up, and a pair of simple, dark-brown shoes.

The third and final member of the group was a young woman with long pink hair tied into pigtails, blue eyes, fair skin, and an ample bosom in addition to wearing a choker tied into a ribbon, a purple and pink, short, spaghetti-strap dress with light pink trimmings, two long, thin wings on the back, as well as black leggings, and high-heeled sandals.

The young woman of the group entered the area perturbed, unlike the rest, and muttered angrily, "Oohh… we MUST find and punish the mean people who hurt Angelica!"

"Calm down Sherry," the blue-haired man warned, "getting unduly angry now won't solve anything. We'll need to find out who did it first."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Yuka! Those people, whoever they are, hurt my wonderful pet rat Angelica. And their interference is slowly down the ritual, meaning it'll be that much longer before I find my love!" the woman, Sherry grumbled.

"Oon," the dog man began in an odd fashion, "who in their right mind would love you?"

"HE would!" Sherry exclaimed excitedly. "My incredible cherry blossom-topped hero! I was on the verge of starvation when he emerged from the wilderness and gave me food and water so I could live! But then, as soon as he appeared, he vanished." In an exaggerated wipe, she bemoaned, "I didn't even learn his name."

Laki, Flare, and Lucy immediately shot Natsu deadpanned expressions.

Natsu blinked in confusion and tilted his head.

"Oon…" the dog man muttered again, "we should probably find those guys though…"

Yuka then interjected. "We must, whether we should isn't the problem, Toby. They can't be allowed to interfere with Deliora's release. We'll collect enough moonlight soon."

"They're going to get the ice drunk?" Natsu wondered curiously.

"Come on," Yuka ordered, "let's go."

The three then turned and left the area.

After assessing that they were gone the team stepped out and turned their gaze back to Deliora.

"Weird," Natsu muttered.

"You met that crazy chick?!" Lucy suddenly clamored.

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "Did I…?"

Happy scratched his head curiously. "No clue."

Gray clenched his fists angrily. "I don't know who these clowns think they are, but they've got to be stopped. They plan on releasing Deliora, and tarnishing Ur's sacrifice. I _won't_ let that happen."

Natsu, his arms still folded, tapped his fingers in thought as he looked up at the frozen demon.

"What?" Gray asked.

"Just thinkin' how they plan to melt the ice."

Lucy looked at the frozen demon for several minutes. "… Hey, do you think Deliora has something to do with that dome of energy around the island?"

Gray then added, "There's no way they're _not_ connected. Despite being frozen in that ice, Deliora is in fact alive."

Natsu slammed his fists together and suggested excitedly, "Then let's just destroy it!"

Gray scowled at Natsu before punching him hard.

"Wow!" Happy exclaimed. "He hit him hard!"

Lucy muttered in deadpan, "It's not all that rare."

"Stay away from Deliora Natsu! If this thing gets free no one would be able to stop it!" Gray shouted at Natsu. Gray sighed and then turned back to Deliora before adding, "My teacher, Ur, froze Deliora in that ice using Iced Shell. It's a kind of never-melting ice that is resistant to all types of magic. But why would those bastards bring it here?"

Lucy then opined, "Why don't we follow those weirdos and get information from them?"

Gray shook his head. "No, we should stay here and wait until the moon is high in the sky."

"What's the moon got to do with anything?" Flare asked.

Gray narrowed his eyes and answered, "I'm not certain, but I overheard one of those nonnatives say, 'We'll collect enough moonlight soon.' I don't know what he meant exactly, but the moon and Deliora are obviously connected somehow."

Natsu, immediately recovered from Gray's punch, tapped the side of his head in deep thought before grumbling. "Moon… moon… what did Auntie Tsuki say 'bout the moon again?"

"Auntie Tsuki?" Lucy asked.

Natsu, not truly paying attention, answered plainly, "My aunt, Tsukuyomi. Man… what was it…?" His eyes then suddenly widened in realization. "Oh! That's right!"

"What?" Laki asked, surprised at his sudden outburst.

"Auntie Tsuki always told me that the moon has really powerful, uuhh… matchstick properties that can nullify really powerful spells."

Lucy flattened her brow in annoyance. "I think the word you're looking for is mystic," she deadpanned.

"Then we should definitely wait around to see how exactly they're harnessing this moonlight then," Gray mentioned.

"Tch, fine," Natsu grumbled in annoyance.

As they waited, Gray reminisced on some of his time with Ur.

* * *

 _A young Gray stood in the middle of a snowy tundra, in front of a slim young woman with a curvaceous figure and short, dark purple hair, black eyes, and fair skin who wore a tan jacket with a dark brown collar, a red tank top, and jeans. The woman smirked at Gray and inquired in amusement, "So, think you'll be able to survive my training?"_

 _Gray answered confidently, "I will do whatever it takes, Ur!"_

* * *

As he thought, he heard Lucy moan with boredom.

"I'm so bored…" she mumbled with a groan.

"Yeah…" Flare added as she stared up at the ceiling.

Lucy then perked up as she got an idea. "I know how we can pass the time!"

"Sex?" Flare and Natsu asked in unison.

"Hell no!"

Lucy then summoned a new Celestial Spirit, a girl with waist-length, curly blonde hair, black eyes, and round, ever-present blush marks on her cheeks that wore a pink bonnet on top of her head, a long blue dress with pink fringe and heart shaped patterns on the waist, leather shoes, small white wings on the back, and a large harp slung over her back. "Hhheeeyyy, Lucy!"

"Hey Lyra," Lucy responded.

Lyra then frowned and asked, "You know, why don't you summon me more often Lucy? It gets boring in the Spirit Realm."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow and answered, "You're the one who said you can only be summoned three times a month."

Lyra stiffened as she chuckled weakly, "Oh… right… oopsie…"

"Why?" Natsu asked.

Lucy shrugged. "Don't ask me, she's the one who set it up that way."

Lyra nodded. "Oh yeah. Maxy asks me to entertain the younger spirits most times."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Maxy?"

"Lady Maxwell," Lyra answered simply. "So, what can I do for you, Lucy?"

Lucy nodded. "We're all sitting here bored. Think you could play a song for us?"

Lyra smiled happily and gave an excited thumbs up. "You bet! Any requests?"

Lucy put a hand on her cheek in thought and then shook her head. "Not really, just something nice."

Lyra nodded in understanding and pulled out her harp and began strumming on it before singing a slow, emotional song.

As the group listened, Natsu, Flare, Lucy, Laki, and Happy were pleased with the music as Lyra played.

As Lyra played her music, more memories of Ur filled Gray's mind.

* * *

 _Gray stood in the same tundra with Ur, his hands in the Ice-Make pose as he shouted, "Ice-Make: Shield!" A small, pointed shield of ice rose out of the snow in front of him._

 _Gray turned to Ur expectantly as she smiled with a nod in acknowledgement._

* * *

The memory caused tears to roll down Gray's face as he remembered his time with Ur.

Seeing Gray's reaction, Lucy turned to Lyra. "Uh, hey, Lyra, how about we give it a rest for a bit?"

Lyra turned to her mildly confused. "Hm?"

Lucy pointed to the mildly tear-stained Gray.

Lyra nodded. "Ah… okay."

Moments later, the team all ended up falling asleep.

* * *

The group was awakened by a light tremor shaking the area.

"Wha…?" Natsu mumbled groggily.

Lucy looked around in confusion before looking up, her eyes widening in surprise. "H – hey… you guys…"

"Yeah, Lucy?" Flare asked in drowsy confusion.

"L – look at the ceiling…"

The others immediately looked at the roof of the cave.

Violet colored light was pouring down from a magical circle above Deliora.

They watched in shock as drips of water started to roll down the block of ice.

"Whoa…" Natsu mumbled.

"But where's it coming from?" Laki asked in timid confusion.

Gray narrowed his eyes. "I think it's coming from the temple above."

"Come on! We gotta find out what's causing this!" Natsu shouted as the group ran out of the cavern.

* * *

The team then ran up the temple to the roof, where they found an encirclement of mages around a magic circle chanting an incantation, which absorbed light from the moon, sending it down to Deliora.

As they saw it, Lyra explained, "That spell…it's the Moon-Drip. It's an ancient, powerful spell used to harness moonlight and nullify any magical effect, even the unbreakable Iced Shell."

"Called it," Natsu said plainly.

Natsu and the others attempted to think of a solution as four figures walked up to the chanting wizards.

Three of them were Yuka, Sherry, and Toby.

Among them was also a slim young man of average height whose facial features were hidden by an ornamental, horned helmet with a long purple mane, a large white cape with a wide collar, golden edges, and fur trimmings on the shoulders held closed by a belt adorned by a stylized snake with rectangular coils, underneath which was a blue, high-collared tunic that reach his knees, with a simple belt at his waist holding it closed, over a simple dark shirt, black baggy pants tucked inside armored greaves.

As the group approached the mages, Yuka asked, "What do we do about the intruders, Reitei?"

The masked man, Reitei, answered, "There is not much we can do with them for now. However, it is obvious the villagers have called for reinforcements. That is a problem. Yuka, Sherry, Toby. Destroy the village."

Lucy and the others widened their eyes in disbelief.

"You bastards!" Natsu shouted as he ran towards the group with his fist inflamed.

"Oh great…" Lucy muttered.

"What the…?!" Yuka shouted in surprise.

Sherry gaped as her eyes widened.

"Oon, intruder!" Toby shouted!

"Fire Dra –!" Natsu began to shout before Sherry suddenly charged at him and tackled him with a hug.

"It's you!" she shouted ecstatically.

' _Can't… breathe…_ ' Natsu thought with a constrained voice as his face was buried between the pink-haired woman's cleavage.

However, all of the others, including Reitei's group, gaped in sheer disbelief at the event.

"H – huh…?" Reitei mumbled in confusion.

"The hell!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Called it," Flare muttered.

Natsu put his hands on Sherry's shoulders and pulled his head out with a gasp.

"It's you!" Sherry shouted. "It really is!"

Natsu blinked in confusion. "I – it… is…?"

Sherry pouted but then pulled the bands out of her hair, allowing it to fall and flow down her back, down to her waist.

Natsu raised an eyebrow but then widened his eyes.

* * *

 _A young Natsu walked through a forest in confusion. "Crap… now I'm lost." Grumbling, he mumbled, "Great… Erza's gonna kill me…" He stopped when he heard soft sobbing nearby._

 _He walked to a tree and saw a young girl with dark pink hair slouched against a tree, crying softly._

 _He blinked in thought. "Hey, you alright?"_

 _The girl flinched in surprise and turned to him in surprise. "I – I… I'm lost…"_

 _Natsu then heard growling._

 _The girl slumped her shoulders as her face turned red. "And… I'm hungry…"_

 _Natsu grinned and pulled his backpack off before rooting through it._

 _The girl tilted her head to the side curiously._

 _Natsu then pulled out a large bottle of water along with several pieces of bread and small fruits and handed them to the girl._

 _Her eyes widened in disbelief. "A – are you… giving these to me…?"_

 _Natsu nodded. "Yeah, here. I've got plenty."_

 _The girl took the food and water and began to eat voraciously._

 _Natsu was about to speak when a voice shouted, "Natsu! Where are you!?"_

 _Natsu flinched. "Crap! Uh, sorry, but I gotta go!" He then ran off into the forest._

 _The girl turned to him sadly as he ran off._

* * *

Back in the present, Natsu looked at Sherry in thought. "Y – you are…?"

A small smile crept onto Sherry's features. "You remember…?"

He then pointed at her and exclaimed, "You're the weird girl that wanted food!"

Sherry stiffened and chuckled lightly. "W – well… yes, I guess that's accurate…"

Natsu grinned. "How've you been?"

Sherry hugged him tightly once more. "I've spent so long searching for you, my love!"

Yuka snarled in annoyance. "Sherry you nincompoop! He's the enemy! Hit him, don't hug him!"

Sherry turned to Yuka, still hanging off Natsu, and scowled at the blue-haired man. "Did you just tell me to attack my love?!"

"He's here to stop the Moon Drip! He's the enemy!"

Sherry merely frowned angrily.

Reitei raised a hand towards Yuka. "No matter. If she turns enemy I'll simply kill her too."

Natsu narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of Sherry before cracking his knuckles.

Flare sighed in resignation. "Here we go."

Natsu prepared to attack but at that moment Gray also burst from hiding, outpacing Natsu to Reitei, shouting, "Lyon!" before taking his Ice-Make pose and shouting, "Ice-Make: Lance!" A magic circle appeared in front of him and shot multiple spears of ice at Reitei.

Reitei flinched momentarily but then raised a hand and blocked Gray's attack with a wall of ice. He then huffed in annoyance and turned to Toby and Yuka. "You two, go and destroy that village. I will handle the intruders and the traitor."

"Like hell!" Laki argued as she too jumped from hiding and prepared to fight.

Gray then shouted, "Lyon, you bastard! Why are you doing this?!"

"Lyon" sneered in derision. "You could never understand, murderer!" He then launched an attack that sent Gray flying back.

"I'll go stop those two jokers!" Natsu shouted as he turned to chase Toby and Yuka.

"Lyon" snarled before turning to Natsu. "Ice-Make: Diamond Cage!" Natsu's body is then encased in ice, leaving only his forearms, lower legs, and head exposed.

Flare, Laki, and Sherry frowned in irritation.

Gray turned to Lucy and the others and shouted, "Don't just stand there! Go and stop those two from destroying the village!"

Flare turned to Laki and the others and said, "You go. I'm helping Natsu."

Gray responded by turning and kicking the frozen Natsu down the hill, causing him to roll like a ball. "Now go!"

Laki and Flare ran down the mountain after Natsu while Happy jumped on Lucy's back and flew her towards the village.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shouted as he launched the attack again.

Lyon raised his hand again and blocked the attack. "Are you honestly going to try the same trick twice?"

Gray narrowed his eyes angrily. "You bastard. Do you even realize what you're doing? You're tarnishing Ur's legacy!"

Lyon sneered and then removed his helmet, revealing blue-silver, spiked hair that jutted upwards on most of head save for bangs on the right side of his forehead, narrow, slanted eyes with black irises. "You have no right to talk about Ur's legacy. You are the one who killed her."

Gray winced in pain as Lyon's words bit at him.

* * *

Natsu growled as he sat on one of the mountain's paths, trying to melt the ice around him with his flames. "You gotta be kiddin' me! When I get out I'm beating that guy senseless!"

* * *

At the edge of the island, a pirate ship began approaching from the waters. However, almost all of the sailors onboard were beaten and bruised, including the captain.

The culprit of said beatings was none other than Erza, who stood at the front of the ship as it docked to the island. How she came in to possession of said ship was rather strange.

* * *

 _Earlier in the day, as the ship was docked at the pier, Erza approached the ship with a determined expression._

 _The captain noticed her and asked, "Well hello there milady. What can I do for you?"_

 _Erza nodded and answered, "I want you to take me to Galuna Island."_

 _The captain and all of the sailors paled._

 _"That won't be happening, dear, sorry," the captain apologized._

 _Erza narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not asking." She then made her way onto the boat and proceeded to brutalize her way through the sailors and too the captain, whom she stood over. "Now, I want you to take me to Galuna Island. There is someone there who I need to punish."_

 _The sailors, presumably having received brain damage, shouted with adoration, "We'll follow you anywhere!"_

* * *

As the ship docked, Erza disembarked and the sailors agreed to wait for her as she began storming her way to her destination.

* * *

Gray and Lyon stared each other down before their battle truly began.

"Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer!" Gray shouted as larger spears shot out at Lyon.

Lyon smirked and raised a single hand and shouted, "Ice-Make: Eagle!" Multiple eagles made from blue-green ice shot from the magic circle on Lyon's hand, some crashing into Gray's spears and stopping them while others charged at Gray himself.

"Crap!" Gray snarled before he shouted, "Ice-Make: Block!" A massive block of ice appeared to block the eagles. However they circumvented the block and charged at Gray again. "What the –?!" He dodged to the side and growled as he launched another attack. "Ice-Make: Hammer!" A large hammer of ice appeared above Lyon and descended upon him.

Lyon sneered Gray's attack off and launched his own to block it. "Ice-Make: Ape!" A large gorilla made of ice appeared behind Lyon and blocked the Ice-Make: Hammer, then shattered afterwards. "I'm done playing games, Gray!" Thrusting a hand forward, he called out one more attack. "Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!" From his magic circle a massive, eastern dragon made of ice launched out at Gray, who had no time to dodge as the dragon enveloped him before slamming him against the ground, defeated.

Lyon walked over to the fallen Gray and sneered once more. "Look at you. Just like in that training session with Ur, where you laid in the same, pitiful, defeated condition."

"Hey! Don't feel insecure just because you lost!"

Gray sat up and then looked down to see Natsu nearby. "Natsu you moron! What are you doing here?!"

"I don't know where the village is and I didn't find anyone at the top but you!" Natsu ran over past Lyon and threw Gray over his shoulder and ran down the other side of the mountain.

"Hey!" Lyon shouted. "Get back here!"

As the two ran, Gray remembered when he had tried to fight Deliora.

* * *

 _"You idiot!" Ur scolded. "You can't fight that thing, it's too strong for you!"_

 _Gray angrily snapped back, "I have to try! Deliora destroyed my home, I've gotta get payback!"_

* * *

Gray then realized that same attitude is the one he had given to Natsu when the S-Class Quest had just been started. He suddenly understood where Ur's words had come from. As he realized and remembered this, he began to cry and apologized to Natsu. "I'm sorry Natsu…I had no right to say those things…"

Natsu snarled back, "Ahh, shaddup. We're from Fairy Tail, remember? We don't know the meaning of give up. All we know is how to keep going forward. So don't cry ya damn stripper!"

Gray laughed weakly. "Right…"

As they ran, Natsu frowned slightly. "Now… how do I stop?"

Gray twitched an eyebrow.

* * *

At that same moment, Lucy, Laki, Flare, and Happy arrived at the village.

"Everyone! Come quick!" Lucy shouted loudly.

Eventually the old man heard their cries and he, along with the rest ran over to the two. "What is it young lady?" he asked.

"You're about to be attacked!" Flare said frantically.

Lucy answered hurriedly, "There's a team of wizards at the old temple in the forest who are casting a spell that we think's making you demons. We might be able to take them on, we have more numbers, even though we have less wizards."

The villagers looked between themselves unsurely, feeling uncertain of the validity of Lucy's plan.

Lucy began thinking up a new plan when the old man interrupted. "I don't care about those enemies, the only way to fix this is to destroy the moon, you must! You have to destroy it! Now!"

As the old man continued ranting and raving several other villagers dragged him away to calm down.

Lucy growled in annoyance. "Ooohhh, if only I had Virgo's key!"

"What do you need that for?" Laki asked.

"To dig a pitfall."

Laki raised a hand, causing wood to extend out of her arm in the shape of a giant shovel which she used to dig a large, deep hole.

"Whoa! Cool! Now just to cover it with sticks and leaves."

Happy turned to the blonde and chided, "Lucy, you're an idiot if you think anyone will fall for that."

"Hey! Watch it cat! Just you wait and see, it'll work!" Lucy argued, despite the disapproval written on Happy's face along with villagers'.

One of the villagers then shouted, "Hey! Someone's coming!"

That someone turned out to be Natsu, with an unconscious Gray slung on his back. He ran straight into the village and fell straight into Lucy's pit.

Lucy and all the others gathered gaped in disbelief.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted from the bottom of the pit, causing Laki and the others to look down. "The ice broke!" Natsu cheered, the ball of ice around him having shattered. He then looked around before grabbing Gray and throwing him up and out the hole before jumping out on his own.

As he did, Sherry came running out of the forest and towards the village, panting. "Y – you need to get the villagers out of here…"

"We know," Lucy answered.

Sherry shook her head emphatically. "N – no… you don't understand… they… they've got…"

Sherry's words were interrupted as something hit the ground nearby, sizzling as it melted the dirt away.

Everyone looked up and saw Yuka and Toby riding atop a gigantic eagle made of ice, carrying a giant bucket filled with a purple liquid.

Yuka snickered. "Hmph, let's see how these fools like our Double Poison Jelly."

The villagers began to run in panic as they realized the giant bucket was full of the acidic jelly.

"Ah crap," Laki muttered.

Natsu hissed and then shouted, "Everyone! Get in the center of the village!"

As everyone collected in the center, Natsu through his hands out to the side as black flames surged outward before swirling out and surrounding the group in a dome of flames before the acid poured onto the village below.

One of the villagers looked at the dome in thought, putting a hand on it curiously. "These flames… they're not even hot."

Natsu sighed as the dome lowered, revealing a large crater where the village had once been, a single plateau in the middle.

Sherry gasped in shock. "N – no…"

"You monsters!" Natsu howled as the eagle shattered and Yuka and Toby jumped down.

Yuka sneered at the group before turning to Sherry. "You're going to pay, Sherry, for betraying us."

"I didn't betray you!" she argued before grabbing Natsu's arm, smashing it between her bosom. "I followed my love!"

Laki twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

Gray attempted to get up but Natsu knocked him out. "You're not ready to fight yet. So just stay down."

Sherry nodded to herself. "I'll fight as well!" She then raised an arm into the sky before her eyes lit up with a bright pink light. "Doll Attack: Rock Doll!" A giant golem made of stone then rose up from the ground.

Yuka narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Tch, you really plan to fight us?"

Sherry was about to answer when Natsu interjected, "You get the villagers to safety with the others. I can handle these clowns."

"H – huh?" Sherry mumbled in surprise and confusion.

"I can take these guys on my own." He turned to her with a wide grin. "No need for you to put yourself in danger."

Flare twitched an eyebrow.

Sherry pumped her fists. "Right!"

"Aren't we overconfident?" Yuka chided before waving his arm, sending out a blast of blue energy.

Natsu took in a breath and then sent a surge of orange flames to counter the blast.

Yuka smirked as, to Natsu's shock, the blast completely nullified Natsu's attack and slammed into Sherry, sending her flying back.

Natsu's eyes widened before he scowled. "You're gonna pay for that!"

Lucy ran over to Sherry and helped her up. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Sherry nodded weakly. "R – right…"

Encasing his fists in flame, Natsu charged at and threw a punch at Yuka, shouting, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" However, instead of connecting and slamming into his stationary opponent, a wall of magical energy appeared and stopped Natsu's attack, sending him sliding back in confusion. "Wh – what the heck was that?!"

Yuka merely chuckled proudly. "Impressed? It's a magic called Wave. It nullifies all forms of magic. Making wizards helpless."

Natsu narrowed his eyes and then smirked. "Nullifies magic, eh?" He then grabbed Dekaforce from his back and swung it around before resting it on his shoulder. "Then I'll just cut you down."

"You idiot, in case you didn't notice, it also repels physical attacks."

Toby smirked as he raised his hands before his nails extended sharply and turned bright green. "Oon… I'll fight too! Face my Paralysis Claw: Mega Jellyfish!"

Natsu turned to Toby in thought. "Hey, what's that on your head?"

Toby blinked. "Huh? Where?" He then poked his head in thought.

…

…

…

"Ooowww!" Toby howled in pain before he fell down, paralyzed from his own claws.

"Idiot," Yuka chided before turning to Natsu. "I think you'll find I'm not as easy to beat."

Natsu lowered Dekaforce to his side and rushed at Yuka.

Yuka raised a hand and sent blasts of blue energy at Natsu.

As Natsu ran he swung Dekaforce, sending the blasts flying away.

"What the…?!" Yuka exclaimed in surprise. "Wait… a wizard that can breathe fire and carries a sword as long as his body… don't tell me you're the Salamander from Fairy Tail I've heard so much about."

Natsu narrowed his eyes.

"Well don't count me out, I myself was with a powerful guild once as well. Iron Rock Jura is from the same guild. Surely you've heard of him."

Natsu simply rushed forward, swinging at Yuka.

"H – hey! Listen when I'm talking to you!"

Natsu swung down at Yuka, the blue-haired man blocking it with his magic. "Why?" Natsu asked angrily. "I don't care what guild you're from. You're here to hurt the villagers and I'm here to protect them. That makes you Fairy Tail's enemy. Plus," he snarled before glaring at Yuka, "you hurt a friend of mine."

"A frie – are you serious!?" Yuka objected before Natsu slammed his foot into his abdomen, sending him flying back.

Natsu charged once more, but then smirked as he did. "I just got a great idea."

Yuka hissed and sent more blasts at Natsu.

Flames encased Natsu's feet before exploding behind him, sending him surging forward.

"Wh – what the hell!?" Yuka shouted in disbelief. He turned and realized he was against a wall and could not move further. "Dammit." He raised another barrier which Natsu's blade stopped against. Yuka snickered and then taunted, "You'll never break through my Wave."

Natsu smirked before more flames burst from his feet, causing his sword to smash through Yuka's Wave.

Yuka stood, trembling, as Natsu had the tip of Dekaforce pressed right against his throat.

Natsu then raised the sword high up, turned it to the broadside, and then swung it down hard, hitting Yuka right atop the head with the flat side of the sword.

Yuka sputtered and stumbled before hitting the ground, unconscious.

Natsu sighed and sheathed his blade. "Well, that takes care of those two jokers."

* * *

Lucy and the others continued running, trying to get as far away from where Natsu and the others were fighting as possible.

Flare sighed in exhaustion and asked, "When can we stop running?"

"Right now," a cold, angered voice remarked.

Lucy, Flare, and Laki immediately froze in fear and paled.

"Please let that not be who I think it is…" Laki pleaded before the three turned and saw Erza, who was very displeased, standing nearby. Laki then immediately pointed at Happy. "He took it."

"Huh!?" the cat exclaimed in confusion. "Took what!?"

Erza narrowed her eyes and explained, "You are all in trouble."

"Wh – why?" Flare asked.

"You blatantly disobeyed the rules. And you will all be punished for it."

* * *

Inside the cave, Lyon stood, staring up at the frozen Deliora.

"Excuse me, Cold Emperor, but I was wondering why you chose to spare the life of that wizard, Gray," a short, hunched over man wearing an ornate mask with green fur covering his head except his mouth, a red shirt, dark blue pants, a green cape, and brown shoes asked.

"No reason, Zalty," Lyon began, "other than I don't feel the need to shed anymore blood."

Zalty snickered and then rebutted, "You say that, but ordering your minions to kill those villagers tells a different story. It would appear you have a soft spot for your former rival."

Lyon huffed in derision. "Nonsense. I simply have no desire to get any more blood on _my_ hands. But if he happens to get in my way again, I won't hesitate to kill him."

Zalty smirked. "That's good. I'm glad."

* * *

Natsu sniffed the air as he walked, following the scents of Lucy and the others.

He eventually tracked the scent to a makeshift settlement the villagers had made.

"Hey, have you seen my friends?" Natsu asked to one of the villagers.

The man nodded and pointed to the large central tent.

There, he found Erza with Lucy, Laki, Flare, and Sherry bound. Realizing the inherent danger of the situation, Natsu started to back away slowly.

However, Erza grabbed his muffler before he could leave and pulled him back. "You are not going anywhere."

"Why?" Natsu asked.

"You have all betrayed Master Makarov. So I am here to end this job and bring you all back to the guild for punishment."

"What!?" Natsu shouted before growling angrily.

"I did not stutter. As soon as Gray recovers from his injuries we will depart."

"You can't be serious! These people are being cursed by a bunch of wizards who are trying to revive a gigantic demon!"

Lucy sighed. "Give it up Natsu, I already told her about all this."

Natsu narrowed his eyes. "You know all this already!? They're in danger! Their home has been destroyed!?"

Erza replied bluntly, "What of it?"

Natsu stood in silent shock before clenching his fists. "What of it…? WHAT OF IT!? These people are going to be killed and you don't care!? When did you become such a heartless bitch!?"

Erza winced slightly but maintained her stoicism. "This is an illegally taken mission. One that none of you were authorized to partake in. If you wanted to go on the mission, you were required to do it alongside an S-Class Mage."

"Then help us!" Natsu retorted.

"Tell me why I should."

"These people are in danger! I can't just leave them to die! What kind of man would I be if I just stood by and did nothing!? And if staying and helping these people means I get kicked out of Fairy Tail, so be it! I won't be part of a guild that abandons people because of stupid words!"

Erza sat silently, studying Natsu's face. After a moment a smirk found its way onto her lips.

Lucy flinched slightly. "Wh – why is she smiling…?"

"Very well," Erza began. "I will help you. However, you will still be punished once the mission is finished."

Lucy gaped in shock and then sighed. "Wow… she really is scary…"

* * *

Later, Natsu sat in the tent the villagers had given him when Erza walked in and sat next to him.

Natsu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Erza sighed. "I should probably apologize for my earlier coldness. I wanted to see how determined you were to see this mission through and for what purpose."

"You sure picked a crappy way to ask," Natsu retorted.

Erza sighed once more. "Yes, but I had to be certain. Hopefully you can forgive me for that much."

"Fine."

Erza nodded with a slight smile. "Good to hear. Although…" she narrowed her eyes, "that heartless bitch comment was entirely unneeded."

"Well, you were acting like one."

Erza pinched his ear and pulled on it. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Ow, ow, ow! Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Erza released his ear and nodded before asking, "Now, perhaps you can tell me how you even got this job."

Natsu, rubbing his ear in discomfort, explained, "Laki showed up holding it. She said she found it just lying on the floor and said it'd be real good if we went on it. And then I saw the reward and figured a Zodiac Key would be a good apology to Lucy for the whole Everlue thing."

"I see. I will be certain to take that into account. However, like I said, I will help you complete this mission, but you will all be punished after it is over. I will leave Master to punish the others, but I will punish you myself."

Natsu flinched and began to sweat. "H – how…?"

"We will leave that for after the job is complete."

Natsu gulped in fear.

"O – oh…" Laki mumbled as she walked into the tent, seeing the two speaking, "am I interrupting something…?"

Erza stood up and shook her head. "No, I was just leaving."

After Erza left, Laki walked over to Natsu and looked at him uncomfortably.

Natsu raised an eyebrow as the awkward silence continued. "L –"

However, before he speak a word, Laki deeply in front of him. "I'm sorry!"

Natsu blinked in thought. "For… what…?"

"It's my fault that you and the others got involved with all this…" Laki continued as tears began collecting in her eyes.

Natsu sighed and then shook his head. "No, it's not."

"But it is!" she argued vehemently before looking up at him. "I…" she trailed off before tightening her fists, "I just wanted an excuse to go on a mission with you… so I could try and get close to you. But instead I got all of you in really big trouble." The tears in her eyes began falling heavily as she spoke. "I should have just left that job on the floor…"

Natsu shocked her as he reached forward and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"H – huh…?" Her face turned red as she thought, ' _H – he's… so warm…_ '

"You're being stupid," Natsu chided.

"B – but I –!"

"Stop," Natsu commanded. "You didn't force us to go on this job, we chose to. Well, everyone except Gray, but who cares about him?"

Laki's eyes widened in disbelief. "Y – you mean… you're… not mad…?"

Natsu pulled away and grinned brightly. "How could I be mad at you, Laki?"

Laki's eyes widened further as her face turned fluorescent red. She glanced up at him, trying to hide her reddened face and asked, "H – hey… Natsu…?"

Natsu tilted his head. "Yeah?"

"D – did you… know?"

"'Bout what?" he asked.

"That I… that I'm a Dragon Slayer?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. I could smell that you are one."

Her lips curled into a small smile. "So you… actually noticed…"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, my magic's a bit unusual for a Dragon Slayer, and most people don't believe me when I tell them that I am one. They think it's just some weird Make Magic. I got so tired of people laughing at me that I just started saying that's what it was, Wood-Make."

"Tch, well then they're just stupid."

"Huh?"

"There are as many kinds of dragons as there are people, so why wouldn't there be as many types of Dragon Slayer Magic?" He smiled and added, "Dragon Slayer Magic is Dragon Slayer Magic, no matter what kind it is."

Laki smiled happily before she realized how close Natsu was still sitting, causing her face to practically glow red.

Natsu raised an eyebrow as he saw her face. "You alright?" He then leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers.

Laki trembled as her blush increased, feeling her heart beating faster as her entire body began to heat up. She gulped and then slowly leaned her head up, causing their lips to touch lightly.

* * *

 **Aaannnddd finished! That puts a close chapter five of Embodiment of Flame. I know it was a bit of a tease to end it this way, but do not worry, the next chapter will begin with the main event. That aside, hopefully everyone enjoyed it. If you did, be sure to post a review letting me know, I always appreciate it. If you were confused or unsure about anything, post a review with your queries and I will do my best to address them if possible. If you did not, I suppose you could post a review, but unless you have something constructive to say it would be best for everyone if you simply spent your time on something you enjoy. Well, until next time, buh-bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

 **Greetings! Welcome to the sixth chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I hope the wait was not too long for all of you. I also hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter, and that you enjoy this chapter. Be sure to review if you do. As usual, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all his help with the story so far and his continued aid with it. That aside, I believe it is time to move on to the reviewer responses.**

 **The BadAss Writer: Don't worry, there are lemons, there'll be one in this chapter actually. Ah, yes. Orgies. You needn't worry, they will be present.**

 **Nah, I'd rather see her get mangled to pieces or something. Or given to a bunch of Orcs.**

 **Jalis: NaYu? You mean Natsu x Yukino? Of course that's present, along with Minerva and Chelia. Though I don't recognize the other two. I hope the plot is to your liking.**

 **treeofsakuras: ? He already did. Thanks, that was I was aiming for.**

 **FanFictionHunter: That we most certainly do.**

 **Certainly!**

 **TheWhiteTitan: It can be. But some characters take it too far, to an honestly infuriating degree.**

 **correnhimself316: Ppffbbtt! It's coming my friend.**

 **Well that does it for the reviewer responses. A rather nice length on this one. With that out of the way, it is time to begin the actual chapter, no?**

 **WARNING: There is a lemon in this chapter. It will be marked, simply be aware.**

* * *

Laki sat in Natsu's tent, across from the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, smiling happily before she realized how close Natsu was to her, causing her face to practically glow red.

Natsu raised an eyebrow as he saw her face. "You alright?" He then leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers.

Laki trembled as her blush increased, feeling her heart beating faster as her entire body began to heat up. She gulped and then slowly leaned her head up, causing their lips to touch lightly.

Natsu tensed slightly as he felt Laki's arms wrap around his shoulders.

"Please…" Laki muttered as she pulled away from him, her face deep red. "I want you Natsu…"

 **LEMON BEGINS HERE**

Natsu nodded with a smile before leaning down, pressing his lips against hers. Wasting no time, his tongue reached out towards her mouth, though he found her teeth, clenched nervously, blocking his way. Pulling back slowly, he said warmly, "If you don't want me to, it's alright."

Laki frowned in embarrassment and shook her head. "Th – that's not it… it's just that it's… my first…"

Natsu widened his eyes subtly before smiling. "Alright then. Just let me handle everything, okay?"

Laki nodded with a smile before closing her eyes and lightly pursing her lips.

Natsu leaned forward once more, pressing his lips against hers, his tongue reaching out to her mouth, this time unobstructed and permitted into the space beyond her lips.

Laki trembled as she felt his tongue reach to hers, caressing and stroking along it. Her senses returning after a moment, she reached out herself and began entwining with Natsu, her movements slowly becoming more forceful as their tongues danced with each other.

As their tongues danced between their lips, Natsu reached a hand to the purplette's blouse, pressing a hand against one of the soft mounds on her chest before compressing it with his hand. Curling his fingers in as he squeezed on the doughy knoll, Laki pulled away with an impassioned moan as he began kneading and rolling her cushion in his hand, causing her breath to hasten and hitch with gasps and moans.

Natsu then began slowly unbuttoning his partner's blouse, the cloth falling to the floor and revealing her bosom held by a simple, dark purple bra. "It suits you," Natsu complimented as he pulled the clasp free, her bust swinging freely in front of him, one of which he immediately grabbed with his hand before wrapping his lips around the tip of the other, eliciting a loud groan of pleasure from the girl.

"Th – this feeling…" Laki mumbled weakly between gasps, "it's… aahhnn!" she shouted out as Natsu pinched and lightly bit down on her tips, sending shocks of ecstasy through her. After several more deep pants escape her lips, she looked at Natsu with hooded eyes, huffing weakly, "Please… stop teasing me…"

Natsu pulled away with a smile and nodded before putting a hand on her thigh and sliding his hand up, reaching for her dark purple panties, which had a considerable stain on them already, before pulling them away, a small trickle of her fluids sticking to the fabric.

Laki glanced down as the young man lowered his trousers, allowing his rod to stand thick and tall, surprising the purple-haired woman. "Th – that… will it… fit…?" she asked tremulously.

Natsu slipped his arms under her knees, lifting her legs up onto his shoulders, before smiling at her. "It'll be fine, okay? If it hurts too much, just tell me."

Laki nodded slowly as he inched his way forward, the end of his staff pressing against the soaking folds of her lower mouth. She trembled slightly as she felt the heat from his body press against her before he moved forward slowly, the lips of her entrance spreading as his mass filled her.

Natsu's movements slowed as he felt her shivers. "You okay, Laki?" he asked with concern.

Laki nodded silently as he pressed forward, stopping momentarily before pulling back some, his movements repeating in back and forth motions, each inward advancement pushing him deeper into her hole.

However, his motions stopped when he felt a faint impediment to his progress. His gaze moved to Laki, whom returned it with a nod. Adjusting her hips up slightly and pulling himself back slightly, Natsu then thrust forward, tearing through thin obstacle in his path.

Laki gasped with a silent shriek and her stiffed sharply as she felt pain shoot through her body like lightning as small trails of blood leaked from between her walls and his shaft. After a moment, she slackened and her gasps normalized to deep breaths.

"You ready?" Natsu asked, receiving a nod in return as his motions once again resumed, the depth of his thrusts increasing with each motion, forging deeper and deeper into her body.

Bursts of pain from the thrusts soon melted away to pleasure in her body as Laki heard the sounds of Natsu's movements and their juices mixing in her body. Her face turned bright red as she put her hands over it.

"Something wrong?" Natsu asked, his motions unceasing.

"Th – those sounds… they're so dirty…" Laki muttered in embarrassment.

Natsu merely smiled before shifting his body side to side slightly, stirring her walls and eliciting a loud gasp and moan of pleasure. "If you ask me, I think it sounds beautiful."

Laki's eyes widened as he pulled her hands aside. She then smiled as she saw his eyes staring down at her. ' _In this moment… here… his eyes… it's like… they see… only me…_ ' Her smile widened as her eyes hooded with pleasure, her hips beginning to move in time with Natsu's, back and forth, while her legs curled over his back, pulling him tightly against, pulling him deeper inside of her body with his thrusts.

Natsu smiled as her legs moved to his lower back before he reached down, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up close to him. Using their new position his advantage, he grasped his hands tightly around her bottom and began lifting her up and down as his thrusts increased in speed.

"Ah… hah… ah…" the girl panted loudly before moaning loudly, wrapping her arms around her lover's shoulders, pressing her lips against his as their tongues reached out and swiftly began dancing and battling for dominance. Her legs coiled around his waist tightly, pulling him in deeply, the sounds of their juices squirting about and their bodies smacking together filling the air, the only sounds the two heard beyond their own pants and gasps.

"It… it's so… tight…" Natsu groaned as her walls wrapped around him tightly with his thrusts, seeming to crush him. He trembled with his thrusts as her stiffened nipples brushed against his skin in their free-flowing movements, in time with his movements. Bending down, he wrapped his lips around one of the bright pink tips, sucking tightly.

Laki huffed and gasped out. "M – my head is… going white… it feels… s – so… amazing…"

Natsu winced slightly as he felt the walls of Laki's lower mouth tight around him greatly. His play on her breast continued as he flicked the tip with his tongue repeatedly before biting it lightly and tugging at it.

Laki threw her head back in a howl of ecstasy. "N – Na… Natsu… h – ha… har… harder!"

Natsu responded instantly to her request, lifting up her torso and slamming it down as his thrusts increased in forcefulness, the loud sound of their bodies colliding growing sharply.

Laki's voice turned to mere huffs and gasps as Natsu laid her on her back, moving with her and thrusting faster and harder than before until finally he pulled back and slammed deeply as his mast swelled before releasing a sudden burst inside. "Hhhaaauuu!" the purple-haired Dragon Slayer howled loudly as she felt Natsu fill her with warmth, her hole flooding with his thick semen as she tightened around him, squeezing more from him as her body trembled and her tongue fell from her mouth as her eyes rolled back. "I… I'm in… heaven…"

After several moments of release, the purple-haired young woman finally loosened her grip, slackening, breathing heavily with exhaustion.

Natsu released several huffs before pulling himself from her and flopping next to her. He looked at the young woman and smiled, the girl having fallen into unconsciousness immediately.

 **LEMON ENDS HERE**

* * *

The next morning, Natsu covered Laki with a blanket as he affixed his clothing. ' _Sorry to leave so early, but I've got something I need to do._ '

He then sped out of the tent and made his way out of the makeshift camp and towards the temple.

Snickering to himself, he thought, ' _I've got the perfect idea to put these jokers outta business._ '

* * *

Inside the temple, within a large room with a throne at one end, Lyon snarled as he punched Toby, sending him flying across the room and into Yuka. "Useless! Both of you!"

Zalty then walked into the room and alerted, "We have a problem. Fairy Tail's Erza Scarlet has arrived, so this ritual has to end tonight."

Lyon growled angrily. "I don't care who comes! I will NOT be defeated!"

However, the group's discussion was interrupted as the temple began to violently tremble before tilting.

"What the hell!?" Lyon exclaimed in confusion and irritation.

* * *

Inside the temple, Natsu ran and dashed around, destroying the different support pillars at the temple's bottom level. Grinning to himself he assessed his work. "Oh yeah! Now with this temple at an angle that weird light won't hit Deliora." He then looked up and smirked. "Alright, all that's left is ice-brain." Encasing himself in fire he leapt through the floors, up to the throne room.

* * *

In the throne room, Lyon frowned heavily before the ground next to him exploded in flames. He looked to the side with a bored expression as Natsu grinned at him. "Let me guess, here to defeat me?"

"You got it!" Natsu shouted. "I'm gonna kick your ass so Gray doesn't have to!"

"Then come and face your demise," Lyon challenged as he raised a hand that began emanating frozen mist.

Zalty snickered in amusement. ' _Not bad._ '

"Then get ready for a beat down Stripper Number Two!" Natsu shouted before charging.

Lyon hissed in derision. "You pest! Ice-Make: Eagle!" Multiple eagles made of ice emerged from a magic circle and soared towards Natsu.

Natsu smirked. "Easy!" He then took in a deep breath and shouted, "Fire Dragon Roar!" as he exhaled, sending a huge gout of flame flying at Lyon's eagles. However, to Natsu's confusion and shock, his flames completely dissipated and Lyon's eagles sped up suddenly, slamming into him with great force and sending him flying back. "What the hell?!" Natsu growled as he slid to a stop before charging at Lyon with a flame-encased fist. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" However, to Natsu's confusion, his own flames slammed into his face and exploded.

"Tch, fool. Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!" A giant, serpentine dragon made of ice appeared from a magic circle and charged at Natsu.

Natsu began to dodge it but the dragon suddenly sped up and hit him with immense power before he could evade it.

Natsu growled angrily. "Okay, you're really pissin' me off!

Lyon then turned to Zalty. "Zalty, that's enough. I can handle this fool on my own."

Zalty chuckled lightly. "Sorry, I just thought you'd want to expedite the process."

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu shouted as a blast of flame shot at Lyon.

Lyon raised a hand and began shouting, "Ice-Make –!" however the blast hit him and slammed him against the wall before he could finish.

Zalty snickered in amusement. "You were saying?"

Lyon spat a small amount of blood before hissing in annoyance. "Carry on."

"So it's you!" Natsu shouted as he charged at the masked man.

However, as he charged, Lyon raised a hand. "Ice-Make: Eagle!" The eagles flew out at high speed and slammed into Natsu.

Natsu stopped him and turned to shoot flames at Lyon, only for his flames to dissipate before another set of eagles hit him.

"Give it up, you can't win. I will complete my ambition, to defeat Deliora. That's the only way I can surpass Ur, my teacher."

Natsu hissed in derision. "What a load of crap. Why don't you just fight Ur?"

"Because, you halfwit, she's dead. And Gray is the one who killed her."

"That's not what Gray told us."

Lyon chuckled proudly and chided, "Of course not. Murderers never admit to their crimes. It's the same with Gray."

Natsu growled and then argued, "I don't see how Gray killed her, from the sounds of it, she sacrificed herself to freeze Deliora."

"Which wouldn't have happened if Gray hadn't been so stupid!"

"It's in the past! I'm sure Gray feels far worse about it than you do, regardless of whether he's to blame or not. But I don't see how the actions of one person can be blamed on another. And if you refuse to see that, then I'll just have to beat it into you."

"You can barely keep yourself from getting hit. You think you can defeat us!?"

Natsu smirked. "You will be easy to beat, all you have is Ice-Make Magic. If I melt it or shatter it you're done for. The little masked freak over there is another issue entirely though…"

Lyon and Zalty both looked at Natsu annoyed.

Zalty looked up at Lyon and said, "I think he just complimented and insulted us at the same time."

Lyon put a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "I don't know what it is with these people but they give me a headache."

Natsu then added one more thing. "And besides all that, even if Gray _is_ guilty of Ur's death, you're endangering the lives of an entire village for your own selfish pride. And if Gray is a murderer, then you're no better!"

Lyon's eyes widened in rage before he swept his hand in front of him and shouted, "You know nothing! Ice Make: Eagle!"

Natsu leapt into the air with blasts of flame, the eagles speeding up towards him. He narrowed his eyes and raised his hands before shooting flames upward, blasting himself down and destroying the eagles. "Heheh, I've got a plan now."

"Tch, overconfident punk."

* * *

Erza, Lucy, Laki, Flare, Sherry, Happy, and Gray made their way to the temple and, as they ran, Gray explained to them the reasoning behind Lyon's actions.

Erza looked at him incredulously and asked, "Are you serious? He truly believes that by defeating Deliora he will indirectly defeat Ur?"

Gray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, because Ur's dead he won't be able to challenge and defeat her directly. And that's a problem for him because he's always been obsessed with surpassing her, and he's mad that he won't get that chance now. So he thinks that by killing the creature she couldn't kill he'll indirectly beat her."

"That's absurd," Laki noted.

Gray nodded again. "Yeah, but there's still something that he doesn't understand yet."

"What?" Happy asked.

"Ur's alive." Gray grit his teeth as he remembered how his time with Ur.

* * *

 _A young Gray Fullbuster looked up from his activities, digging holes in the cold ground, to see Ur and a young Lyon Vastia approaching. Gray ignored them and returned to what he was doing._

 _Ur looked around at the rubble of the town. "How horrible." She then saw Gray nearby, digging graves for the deceased. She and Lyon walked up to Gray and Ur asked, "So, kid, need some help?"_

 _Gray looked up at Ur and just continued digging._

 _Ur sighed and pointed to a shovel, "Hey, Lyon, start digging."_

 _Lyon blinked and asked, "What?! Why me?!"_

 _Ur narrowed her eyes and Lyon sighed._

* * *

 _After burying the village's deceased members, numbering all but Gray, Gray looked over two specific graves which were marked "Silver" and "Mika". Tightening his fists he swore, "I will never forgive Deliora for this. I'll get revenge."_

 _Ur folded her arms and asked, "Oh? And just how do you plan on doing that."_

 _Gray twitched an eyebrow. "Well… I… haven't… really thought about that part… yet…"_

 _Smirking, Ur offered, "Learning how to use some magic first might not be a bad idea."_

 _Gray looked up at Ur and asked, "Are you offering to teach me?"_

 _Ur responded, "I'm offering you the chance to learn."_

 _Gray thought for a moment and then nodded._

 _Ur nodded in return and the group, now made of three members, headed out._

* * *

 _Once they reached a high point in the snowy mountains, Ur explained to Gray, "I hope you're ready, my training's harsh."_

 _Gray nodded assuredly. "Don't worry, I'm ready." He then widened his eyes as his face turned red. "Wh – wh – what are you doing?!"_

 _Ur, who had stripped from her red shirt, beige coat, and black pants down a simple green bra and matching panties, looked at Gray with a smirk. "Training has begun now."_

 _Gray looked from Ur to Lyon in disbelief, the white-haired child himself being in his boxers. "You people are crazy!"_

 _Ur explained, "If you want to control the cold, you must first become one with it."_

 _Gray gulped and reluctantly stripped down to his own boxers as their training began._

 _Nodding in satisfaction, Ur continued, "Good. Now for the basics, first is familiarizing yourself with the cold, then we move on to the magical practice that comes later."_

* * *

 _As their training proceeded for a long period of time, Ur made mention of several basic rules of her magic, Ice-Make, the most important of which was, "Creation magic is the magic that allows the most freedom. So everyone, in order to be their strongest, must find their own form."_

* * *

 _After training for some time, Ur decided to bring Gray and Lyon to the market with her to buy food._

 _As she bought a selection of goods, the shopkeeper mentioned to her, "Another student, hm?"_

 _Ur nodded in agreement. "Yes, I need to pass my Ice-Make Magic on to the next generation."_

 _The man nodded in thoughtful agreement but added, "Just don't forget about your own happiness from time to time."_

 _As Ur continued shopping, Lyon asked, "Gray, your dream is to defeat Deliora, right?"_

 _Gray looked at him puzzled and nodded. "Of course. What about you?"_

 _Lyon looked at Ur intently and said, "My dream is to beat Ur."_

 _Gray raised an eyebrow. "Really? Whether I can beat her or not doesn't really seem to matter if you ask me."_

 _Lyon huffed in derision and then added, "Do you know why Ur took you under her wing with me? She saw that you were wrapped in darkness. At least… that's what she told me."_

 _Gray tightened his fist and responded, "She doesn't need to worry about me. I'll drive away the darkness myself by defeating Deliora. Once I've got enough power I'll leave the Ice Queen." Gray suddenly fell over as Ur punched him on the head._

 _"I'd watch it with those metaphors kid. Next time it might not just be a punch," Ur warned with a smile._

 _Gray nodded as he held his throbbing head._

* * *

 _As the trio walked towards the outskirts of the city, Gray asked Ur, "When will I learn some powerful magic?"_

 _Ur explained, "You already have. Once you find your own form of Creation Magic it can be as strong as you want."_

 _"Whatever you say," Gray dismissed as he unconsciously stripped._

 _"Hey! What do you think you're doing in public!?" Ur scolded._

 _"Look what you made me do!" Gray blamed._

 _"Me!?"_

* * *

 _On the way back to their shared cottage, Gray overheard a group of travelers talking about Deliora._

 _"Did you hear about that demon?" the first asked._

 _"Yeah, it's tearing through the countryside," answered the second._

 _"I know. And what's more, I heard it's nearby."_

 _That caused Gray's body to tingle. '_ If it's nearby then… I can fight it and kill it… _' he thought._

* * *

 _That night, Gray was preparing a pack of items._

 _Lyon walked over to him and asked curiously, "What's all that stuff?"_

 _Putting the pack on his back, Gray explained, "I'm going. To fight Deliora."_

 _Ur widened her eyes and shouted, "That's insane! You'll only get killed out there!"_

 _Gray turned to them with a determined expression. "You won't stop me."_

* * *

In the present, the group ran towards the ruins when Lucy suddenly stopped and pointed. "H – hey! Look!"

They all saw that the ruins were tilted at a sharp angle.

"Natsu," Erza said plainly.

"Definitely Natsu," Laki concurred.

At that moment a large number of the priests who had been performing the Moon-Drip ritual jumped in front of them armed to stop them.

Gray narrowed his eyes and Lucy and the others prepared to fight them.

Laki grumbled in annoyance. "Really? Get out of here!"

Sherry then stepped out in front of the others. "Please, stop! These people are friends!"

One of the priests raised a sword and argued, "No! Anyone who interferes with Lord Reitei's plans is an enemy!"

Erza turned to Gray and ordered, "Go on ahead to the temple, we can handle them. You're the only one who can stop Lyon."

Gray nodded appreciatively and jumped over the attacking priests.

Several tried to stop him but Laki extended her arms forward as long trails of wood appeared from her arms which she swung up and then slammed down. "Wood Dragon Wing Attack!"

Gray ran past the priests, clenching his fists as more memories filled his mind.

* * *

 _In a nearby town, Deliora roared as it slid back from an attack._

 _Gray and Lyon were already unconscious from the course of the battle._

 _Gray managed to wake up some and looked to see Ur in front of him. He grit his teeth with anger._

 _Ur turned towards him with a warm smile. "Good, you're awake."_

 _Gray looked down and his eyes widened in shock, from the knee down Ur's right leg was gone, replaced by a false replacement of ice._

 _Ur smiled and said, "Don't worry. I just lost it in the fight. This will do for now. Gray, I need you to take Lyon and run. Fighting Deliora while protecting the both of you simultaneously is difficult."_

 _Gray then asked perplexed, "Why? Why did you come back for me?"_

 _Ur thought for a moment. "Well… I was supposed to be searching for happiness but really… I'm not all that unhappy. Seeing my pupils grow is all the happiness I need. Gray, if Deliora is the one causing all of your darkness, then that's even more of a reason for me to fight it."_

 _"No, Ur, don't!" Gray shouted frantically._

 _"I will take my happiness back by doing this, okay?"_

 _Lyon woke up at that moment and saw Ur standing nearby, realizing what she was about to do, and shouted, "You can't! What about my dream?!"_

 _Ur nodded and rebutted, "There are many wizards far stronger than I am to the west. So go there, and fight them."_

 _Lyon grit his teeth in anger, demanding, "Don't lose!" Losing his own patience he then rushed forward, putting his hands in the formation for Iced Shell, running ahead as the spell charged, only to get frozen in place by Ur._

 _Ur took in a breath and crossed her arms in front of her, preparing to use Iced Shell._

 _Tearfully, Gray shouted, "No, Ur, don't do this!"_

 _darkness."_

 _Gray's eyes widened as the tears fell from his eyes stronger._

 _Ur then added as her body turned to ice, "Gray, after I've finished, tell Lyon that I am dead. I want you both to walk into your own future, but for Lyon, this will be impossible for as long as I am alive." Ur's body then dissipated, turning into the ice that formed a massive prison around Deliora._

 _Lyon's own ice prison broke and he fell to the ground, seeing the frozen Deliora ahead of him._

 _Gray curled his fists and then explained, "It's Ur. She… she died to seal Deliora."_

 _Lyon's eyes widened insanely as he got up and slammed his fist into Gray's face. "You… it's your fault she's dead!"_

* * *

Natsu dodged another shot from Lyon and snickered. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of this."

However, just as Natsu was about to retaliate Gray burst through the door and shouted, "Lyon!"

Lyon looked shocked at Gray and then smirked. "So you've finally come."

Gray walked over to Natsu and stared Lyon down.

Natsu pointed at Gray and shouted, "Hey! Butt out! This is my fight!"

Gray looked back at Natsu coldly, then turned back to Lyon silently. He then ordered, "Lyon. Get out of here. Retreat and leave the island, now."

Lyon sneered and retorted, "And what if I refuse?"

Gray closed his eyes and sighed before spreading his legs to the side, and crossing his arms in front of him, his right over his left, with his left hand pointed up.

Lyon's eyes widened in shock. "Iced Shell!" He then calmed down some and chuckled. "You're bluffing. There's no way you'd do something like that. You're too selfish, Gray!"

Gray narrowed his eyes as a magic circle appeared at his feet and icy wind began swirling around the room.

Lyon looked around in shock while Zalty held onto his hat and said, "Well, guess that's my cue," before jumping down a hole nearby.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted as he fled. He then turned to Gray. "You can't be serious about this!"

Gray nodded and said, "I am. Unfortunately… it seems like this is the end. Since I can't force Lyon to leave… stopping him here and now is my only option… Natsu, get out of here, I don't want you to get caught in the blast!"

Natsu snarled and then reared back his fist and slammed it into Gray's face, sending him crashing into the wall. "You idiot! You can't just run away from your problems like this!"

Gray slid across the floor as Natsu punched him in the face. He then slowly stood up and scowled at Natsu. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? I'm the one who should defeat Lyon!"

Natsu argued, "You're just running away!"

However, their argument was put to an end as the temple began to shake again.

"Oh what now!?"

* * *

Outside the temple, Flare sent several of the priests flying before turning and gasping. "Everyone, look!"

The other mages turned as the temple righted itself.

"You can't be serious!" Lucy exclaimed.

* * *

Back inside the temple, Lyon laughed loudly. "Looks like Zalty's working quick."

Natsu growled angrily. "That masked freak… Gray!"

"What?" Gray asked, annoyed.

"I'm gonna go get that freaky guy. Don't do anything stupid. If you do, I'll kick your ass."

Gray merely snickered. "Yeah, don't worry."

Natsu then leapt down the hole Zalty fled into.

Gray asked suspiciously, "Lyon, what would you have done if my Iced Shell actually hit?"

Lyon answered confidently, "I would merely take the hit. I have many allies with the same dream as I."

Gray clenched his fists and explained, "Listen, Lyon. You should leave Deliora. There's something you don't know about it."

"And what might that be, Gray?"

"Ur is still alive."

Lyon stood silently for several moments and then asked, "Is that it?" Gray looked at Lyon puzzled before Lyon stuck out a hand and shouted, "Ice-Make: Panther!" A panther made of ice then burst out from Gray's back, causing pain to shoot through his body and for him to stumble back and hit the ground. "I'm already well aware of the fact Ur is still very much alive with the Iced Shell."

Gray, who was still pinned by the Ice-Make: Panther, widened his eyes. "Then why?! Why are you doing this?!"

"I've already explained it, Gray. To prove my power over Ur, to do what she could not." Lyon then pulled a hand back before it was enveloped in a wolf's head made of ice as he shouted, "Ice-Make: Wolf!" Lyon then rushed forward and launched an attack on Gray, punching him over and over with his ice-covered fist.

"Then you'll kill Ur?!"

"She's already as good as dead!" Lyon argued as he punched Gray in the abdomen again.

Gray stumbled back and then flexed his back, causing the Ice-Make: Panther to shatter, before he clenched his fists and reared back a hand before punching Lyon in the face, continuing the turn and then slamming Lyon into the far wall. Taking a heavy sigh, Gray said angrily, "I'm done trying to save you, Lyon."

Lyon stood up and wiped blood from his chin. "You were foolish for trying to in the first place."

Gray turned to Lyon and prepared a spell but stopped when Lyon put up a hand.

"We've both used up so much magic power that I'm certain you're as drained as I am."

"Are you suggesting we stop?" Gray asked suspiciously.

Lyon threw off his cape and raised his fists. "Not at all."

Gray caught his meaning and raised his fists as well before charging Lyon, throwing a wide punch at him from the left side.

Lyon smirked and ducked under it then jabbed Gray's left side, right in the ribs.

Gray shouted in pain before Lyon launched a barrage of punches before sending him tumbling away with a powerful hook to the jaw.

* * *

Natsu pursued Zalty as the short man ran wildly through the halls.

"Get back here dammit!" Natsu demanded as he fired off several blasts of flame at Zalty.

Zalty merely snickered in amusement, the flames disappearing. "As if I'll listen to that." He then threw the blue-green orb he held in his hand.

Natsu swung his flame-encased fist and smashed the orb. "Ice, huh? As if I'd really have problems against that."

Zalty chuckled in amusement. "Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that." He then waved a hand, causing the smashed orb to put itself back together and float up, smacking Natsu in the chin. "Tell me, do you like it? It's my magic. I used it to fix the temple."

"The hell!? What is that!?"

"I'll be nice and give you a little lesson. It's called Arc of Time, a magic so powerful and ancient that it was lost to history. Much like your own Dragon Slayer Magic."

"Arc of Time?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"Yes, my magic allows me to affect the time of an object. I can speed it up, slow it down, or even reverse it. Naturally it won't work on humans but such is the nature of magic."

Natsu growled before Zalty suddenly vanished. "Huh!? Where'd he go!? I'm tired of chasin' him around, I wanna fight!"

* * *

Lyon and Gray's battle continued, with Gray losing quite plainly as Lyon continued battering him with punches and kicks, stumbling him back greatly. "What a shame, your fists are as weak as your magic."

Gray growled and reared back a punch before Lyon hit him with a kick, sending him slamming into the wall hard. He grumbled as he slowly sat up, chuckling weakly. "What we're doing right now… kind reminds me of someone else I used to spar with when I was a kid…"

"This is the end!" Lyon howled as he lunged forward with a crazed grin.

Gray also lunged forward, only to get sent flying back once more by Lyon's punch.

' _Get up!_ ' a voice shouted in Gray's head as he hit the ground.

* * *

 _Young Gray and young Natsu had just finished a spar with one another, Gray turning out the victor with Natsu landing flat on his back in defeat._

 _"Come on, get up!" Natsu shouted._

 _"You're the one who needs to get up!" Gray shouted in irritation at Natsu's obvious lack of sense. "So you come on!"_

 _Nearby, Makarov and a young Erza watched their spar intently as Flare sat on the ground next to them apprehensively._

 _"Sorry, but you lose," Gray argued as he turned around to leave._

 _"Hold on…" Natsu stammered weakly as he stood up unsteadily. "This fight's not near over, Gray…"_

 _Gray looked at the pink-haired boy in shock._

* * *

Lyon huffed in exhaustion as he looked at Gray's slumped form. "… That settles it, you were no match for me after all."

"Hold on," Gray grumbled as Lyon turned to leave. "This fight's not over just yet," he argued as he raised his fists once more.

Lyon snarled in frustration. "I should've killed you when I had the chance!" he howled before the two charged at each other.

Their punches connected to each other's faces in unison before Gray's sent Lyon flying against the wall with a loud crash.

"You're gonna have to step up your game if you wanna beat me!" Gray declared.

Lyon growled and got up to throw more blows at Gray.

However, as Gray remembered all his fights with Natsu, he managed to get under Lyon's strikes over and over before grabbing him by the back of the shirt, spinning around counterclockwise and using all of the built up force to throw Lyon into a wall with such force that it sent dust and stone flying all around as Lyon slumped to the floor with a grunt.

Gray breathed heavily for a few moments before falling back in exhaustion.

* * *

Outside the temple, Lucy, Erza, Laki, Flare, Sherry, and Happy continued fighting the priests.

"Please, try to go easy on them!" Sherry begged as she knocked out another of the priests.

"Huh?" Lucy mumbled in confusion.

"They're not mages, they're just civilians!"

Lucy blinked in thought before widening her eyes. Lucy then nodded and pulled out one of her Celestial Spirit keys, threw it in the air, causing it to spin before grabbing it and shouting, "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer!"

Through a magic circle and a burst of smoke a man with dark skin, black hair braided in red cornrows with ends resembling crab pincers, and thick lips who wore green-lensed sunglasses, a blue striped shirt, a dark pair of trousers with aquamarine stripes down the sides, a ring chain in his right pocket, a hairdresser's tool bag on his left side, gray boots, and a pair of red, crab-like scissors in each hand, he also had six large crab legs sticking out of his back.

Cancer then walked up beside Lucy and asked, "What would you like for me to do today, baby?"

Lucy pointed Cancer's key at the priests and shouted, "Take those guys out!"

Cancer turned and armed his scissors before taking out the priests with large numbers of slashes.

As the priests fell over the team gasped.

* * *

Back in the temple, Lyon stood up scowling. "You…you'll pay for that…" He aimed his hand forward and shouted, "Ice-Make: Eagle!" Eagles made of ice shot out of a magic circle and launched at Gray.

Gray hissed angrily and jumped to the side to avoid the shots and skid to the side. "Hey! This was supposed to be a no-magic fight!"

Lyon stood up with a smirk. "I never agreed to that…"

Gray narrowed his eyes and prepared to fight back despite his low mana reserves.

"Besides," Lyon began, "Deliora will be free soon."

Gray frowned and then smirked. "Well, don't think you'll be getting that far, you bastard."

"Why?" Lyon asked.

"Because, we've got a trump card on our side."

Lyon narrowed his eyes angrily.

"Natsu's strong. Strong enough that you jokers should be afraid of him. Trust me, the second you underestimate that guy is the second you lose."

* * *

Zalty walked into the cavern and watched as Deliora's prison continued to melt. "Heheh, at long last…"

"There you are!"

Zalty turned in surprise as Natsu charged at him with a flaming fist.

"I'll burn that grin off your face!" Natsu howled as he punched the ground where Zalty was standing, though the short man dodged it.

Zalty laughed as he landed on a ledge above the pink-haired teen. "Must've taken you a while to come up with that one. By the way, how did you manage to find me?"

"I followed my nose, that's all. For some reason you totally reek of lady's perfume."

Zalty raised an eyebrow before snickering. "While I'd love to stay and chat, I've got more important things to do. Like reviving Deliora."

"Just give it up, that thing's not coming back."

Zalty chuckled in amusement. "And why are you so sure about that?"

"Because Gray's gonna kick that ice guy's butt, and then I'm gonna kick yours!"

However, a beam of moonlight suddenly began shining down on Deliora.

"Huh!? How!? There's someone up there performing the ceremony!?"

"Just one person," Zalty explained, "but that's all that's needed. We've collected more than enough moonlight, it just needs to be given a little nudge, just like this."

Suddenly the ice around Deliora began cracking.

Natsu's eyes widened. "Okay, that's it! I'm gonna kick your butt and then take out the guy doing the ceremony!"

"Sorry, but it won't be that easy," Zalty retorted as he flicked a finger up, causing a circular piece of the stone ceiling to fall towards Natsu.

Natsu jumped out of the way before sliding to a stop. "Why you…!"

"Heheheh, sorry but it seems chasing after me was a mistake, Salamander. Better luck next time."

* * *

"Excellent work," Erza noted as she looked around at the defeated priests lying around her, their robes torn to pieces.

"Please, don't hurt them any further," Sherry asked.

"Why?" Lucy asked in mild annoyance.

An old woman walked up to the group. "You have defeated us, we won't fight back anymore, but at least hear us out."

Erza glanced at Sherry, whom nodded. Erza turned back to the old woman. "Very well, say your peace."

"We follow Lyon because he's our last hope for resolution."

Erza asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

"Our homes, our families, our friends, they were all destroyed by Deliora. The pain made it impossible to move on. But Lyon… he presented us with a way to move past it all. If we helped him to permanently kill Deliora, then we would gain the resolution we need to move on. Knowing that monster is still alive is terrifying. But if Lyon kills it we don't need to worry anymore."

Lucy turned to Sherry in disbelief. "Wait… so you too?"

Sherry nodded somberly. "Yes. In fact, I ran into Natsu only a few short years after its attack."

"I… I had no idea…"

Erza narrowed her eyes. "So you saw it fit to endanger the lives of those living in the village down there just so you can relieve yourself of emotional pain?"

The woman shook her head. "That was never our intention. Lyon never told us what it was doing. And by the time we figured it out it was too late."

* * *

Natsu snarled as Deliora's prison continued to melt. He then turned and charged at Zalty, throwing another flame-encased punch.

Zalty easily dodged before chortling. "Are you sure you want to do that? Use your fire magic here? It might make the ice around Deliora melt faster."

Natsu growled and spat out a blast of flames at the masked man. "Don't take me for a fool! If that ice could be melted by fire magic then you wouldn't have had to go through all the trouble to use the Moon Drip! Bluff all you want, but once I'm done with you I'm going to stop the Moon Drip and put an end to this crap."

However, the area began to shake violently.

* * *

Inside the temple, Gray looked around in confusion. "What's going on!?"

Lyon chuckled and then explained, "The Iced Shell has broken, and Deliora is now free!" Icy air began to swirl around him once more. "You and your friends can't stop me now! Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment, Gray? Since I saw you last I've been gathering knowledge and allies who will aid me. I was fortunate enough to discover this place, an island where you can collect the light of the moon, Galuna."

Gray narrowed his eyes. "So Natsu was telling the truth… it's not the spell that's thawing Deliora… it's the moon's light itself…"

Lyon sent more Ice-Make: Eagles flying at Gray. "It wasn't easy transporting Deliora from Brago! And the Moon Drip's taken three years!"

Gray put up a wall of ice to block the eagles as they soared towards him. "You've been wasting your time on this stupid plan for three years!?"

Lyon's eyes widened intensely. "Stupid!?" Energy began to surge around Lyon as he scowled with rage. "How dare you say that! You spent the last ten years in some stupid guild piddling your life away!"

Gray jumped to the side as a giant Ice-Make: Eagle crashed next to him. "Because I put my faith in what Ur told me!"

' _In the western nations, there are lots of wizards who are more powerful than me._ '

"So I went west, and eventually found my way to Fairy Tail. And she was right, the guild was so full of powerful wizards that I couldn't believe it. Master Makarov once told me that there may have been a way to undo the Iced Shell, but doing so would've been no different than killing Ur. I didn't know it at the time, but I'm sure he was talking about the Moon Drip." Gray's eyes then widened angrily. "After everything Ur did for us you'd kill her without giving it a second thought. You make me sick."

Lyon merely smirked madly. "Say what you will, I don't care. My entire life has led up to this moment. Our master is long dead. If we want to prove we have surpassed her, what can we do in her absence!?" He then raised his fist and shouted, "Ice-Make: Wolf!" before a wolf's head made of ice appeared on his fist. "Think Gray!" He then charged and started swinging at Gray. "There's only one answer! Deliora! I will surpass our master by defeating what she could not!"

"What!?" Gray shouted in disbelief as Lyon swung wildly. "I get that that's a pretty ambitious plan, but I can't stop thinking that you might have missed the point somewhere along the way! Ice-Make: Sword!" he shouted before a sword made of ice formed in his hand which he used to smash Lyon's Ice-Make: Wolf. "Someone as blind as you could never be better than Ur! Not in a hundred years! Wake up Lyon!" He then swung at Lyon's midsection, bisecting him. However, it turned out to be a mere copy of Lyon made of ice that shattered.

"Fooled you, didn't I!?" Lyon exclaimed as he appeared behind Gray and prepared another attack. "Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!"

However, Gray jumped above the tiger, put his hands together, and then shouted, "Ice-Make: Prison!" planting down a cage over Lyon's creation. He then stood atop the cage. "You see this Lyon? This is what you are."

"What…?" Lyon growled.

"A beast in a cage lashing out at a world he barely knows."

"Utter nonsense! I'll make quick work of that spell of yours!" Lyon challenged before his Ice-Make: Snow Tiger began banging and lashing out at the bars of the cage. However, his eyes widened when he realized his creation could not break the cage as Gray jumped down.

"Single handed spell casting is too unbalanced. Your creations will let you down when you need them the most." He then slammed his right fist into his open left palm as a magic circle appeared underneath him. "Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!" he howled as a giant cannon made of ice appeared in his grasp before firing a blast of energy at Lyon that exploded violently enough to blast a hole in the temple's wall. "Ur taught us that, remember?"

Lyon stumbled forward before collapsing onto the ground.

However, just as Gray prepared to celebrate his victory, the air was filled with a loud, ear-piercing howl that shook the very air around the temple.

* * *

Happy covered his ears in pain, as did the others. "My ears weren't ready for this!"

"That does not sound too promising," Erza muttered apprehensively.

"I think we're in trouble!" Laki grumbled in pain as she covered her ears.

* * *

In the underground cave, Natsu howled in pain as the area shook. "It's so loud!"

The ice around Deliora then smashed as the beast's head broke free from its prison.

"Yes it's free!" Zalty cheered.

* * *

"That sound…" Gray muttered in cold fear as Deliora's roars shook through the air, forcing to the surface memories of its attacks. "I could never forget that sound…" Gray clenched his fists angrily. ' _They did it… they actually revived it. There's only one thing I can do now… Iced Shell._ '

* * *

Erza looked up at the temple and shouted, "It is free! The demon is out!"

Lucy pointed to the temple, "But the Moon Drip isn't going on anymore!"

Erza clenched a fist. "Then that means it is finished. We have to get to temple and see how we can stop it!"

* * *

Erza and the others arrived in the temple as Deliora continued roaring.

"That sound is so creepy…" Lucy muttered.

"It was probably your stomach growling," Happy noted.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow. "You're not half as funny as you think you are."

Happy then turned and pointed at a magic circle on the floor. "Hey, that light! That's the Moon Drip!"

"Then somebody _is_ still performing the ceremony up there," Erza stated before clenching her fists.

Okay, so…?" Laki asked.

"Which means they have not fully revived it yet, so we still have a chance to do something. Come on!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow and pointed down. "Deliora's below us."

"Putting a stop to the ceremony is our only hope!" Erza rebutted as she ran towards a set of stairs.

* * *

Natsu snarled as he stood opposite Zalty. "I'm wastin' my time with you… come on, let's finish this, right now!" However, Zalty's orb suddenly slammed into the side of his head at high speed.

"Ready when you are," Zalty taunted as the orb flew through the air. "Do your worst, little Salamander."

"Why you…" Natsu growled before Zalty sent the orb flying at him. Natsu easily smashed the orb with a flaming fist.

Zalty snickered and raised a hand, causing the orb to reform itself and then slam into Natsu's abdomen, sending him flying.

Natsu coughed violently from the strike. "Dammit… that magic of yours is pissing me off!"

"Perhaps I should show you what happens when I throw this crystal ball into the future?"

Natsu was then repeatedly struck by the flying orb, too fast to properly counteract it. He growled angrily before reaching for Decaforce. "Okay, that's it! If I can't beat you with my magic then I'll use this!"

Zalty laughed loudly. "Fool, my magic affects an object's time, it won't work!"

Natsu unsheathed Decaforce and charged at Zalty.

Zalty smirked and raised a hand but widened his eyes as Natsu charged before dodging to the side. "What the…?!"

Natsu snickered confidently. "What's wrong, gettin' cold feet?"

Zalty laughed. "Of course not!" ' _This is absurd. His sword actually cut through my space-time bubble. How!?_ ' Zalty then noticed a word on the side of Decaforce's blade, "Eisenmeteor." "Ah… so that explains it."

Natsu blinked in confusion. "What does what?"

"That sword, it's the famous Decaforce, the sword of Ten Powers from the Rave War fifty years ago."

Natsu blinked in thought. "… Nope, no clue what you're talkin' about."

"Fool."

"You know, that magic of yours is impressive and all, but I'd be more impressed if it worked on people."

"Ah, but that's the rub. It doesn't work on living, sentient beings. Since Ur turned herself into the ice around Deliora I couldn't just turn back the ice to its pre-frozen state, so that's why we used Moon-Drip."

Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Why are you guys goin' through all this trouble, huh? You're going through an awful lot of trouble to thaw out Deliora so Lyon can boost his ego. That's all good for him, but what about you guys?"

"I've only just recently joined this little project, so I can't speak for the motivations of the others."

"Okay, then what about you?"

"My, my, you certainly know how to get straight to the point." Zalty then laughed in amusement. "The _Cold Emperor_ is an arrogant twit. He doesn't stand a chance against Deliora. That's where _I_ come in."

"If he can't kill it, we're in major trouble! Unless you're gonna defeat it yourself."

"Don't be ridiculous," Zalty chided. "I wouldn't go through all this trouble just to kill Deliora. No… I want to _control_ the demon. You see, there are spells that give the caster power over immortal monsters like this one here. With a single spell I'd become the most powerful man in the world because I'd have a demon at my beck and call!"

Natsu huffed in annoyance. "Geez, talk about a lame answer. I'm sorry I even asked."

Zalty looked at Natsu in confusion.

" _That's_ what you're after?! You think just havin' a monster's gonna you tough? No way."

"I suppose you're too young right now, but one day you'll understand how important it is to have power on your side."

Natsu narrowed his eyes and then smirked. "Well that doesn't matter to me because I've already got plenty of power. I've got all of my friends at Fairy Tail behind me!" He then raised Decaforce and charged at Zalty.

"You really think your little sword can stop me!" Many of the orbs appeared in the air and flew at Natsu.

"I can't control time, but I can see the future!" Natsu shouted before spitting out a burst of flames that hit the orbs and exploded violently.

Zalty sneered and jumped up before Natsu burst from the smoke, right in front of him.

"And I see me kickin' your butt!" Natsu shouted as he swung down on Zalty, shattering his mask and sending him crashing into a rock below. "You lose!"

* * *

 **And there you have it. That concludes this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it. If you did, be sure to post a review. If you were confused or unsure about anything, go ahead and post a review as well and I will do my best to address your concerns. If you did not enjoy it, post a review if you must, just keep it mature, though I would rather suggest you go and do something you actually enjoy instead. But with all that out of the way, I will see all of you in the next chapter, buh-bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

 **Hello to all! Welcome to the newest chapter of Embodiment of Flame! I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, and that you all likewise enjoy this chapter. If you do, be sure to post a review. As usual, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for his past, current, and continued help with the story. In addition, I would like to sincerely and deeply apologize for my long, long overdue absence from this and many other stories under my care. I am sure the wait has not been comfortable for many of you, the reasons behind it being myriad, most of which I would prefer not to get into here. So for what it is worth, I apologize and hope my future uploads make up for my intense absence. That aside, it is time to move on to the reviewer responses.**

 **treeofsakuras: Most of them.**

 **correnhimself316: He might. Didn't you read the previous chapters? He's already met Ultear.**

 **TheWhiteTitan: It was heavily hinted at the end of the preceding chapter. I was originally going to include it in that chapter but there wasn't enough space left. That's a complex answer. But yes and no. I mentioned in a previous reviewer response all of whom Natsu has slept with.**

 **JMK2: Erm, thanks? I think.**

 **animefan29: That's sort of how I do things. The actual outcomes tend to be the same, it's how we get there that changes.**

 **They have been aged up to how they were during Fairy Tail Part II in canon. For many reasons.**

 **And it's also the only plausible explanation behind Juvia's powers.**

 **There wasn't? I could've sworn there was. Well, whatever, my mistake.**

 **Yes. In the anime they take a shortcut through a swamp after the Everlue mission. However in canon Lucy was in Horologium.**

 **You would presume, but Virgo actually explains she meant for her key to go to Natsu, not Lucy.**

 **Fair enough.**

 **Jalis: Just okay? Well that's a little disappointing. Unfortunately I can't say about whether Brandish will be with Natsu or not right now, but she's one I'd like to use, so I'll say that much. Natsu and Sherry is obviously confirmed. Right.**

 **Kript: Glad to hear it! I'm happy to see you have enjoyed all of it. And I know this probably isn't quite as soon as you were hoping but hopefully the quality at least makes up for the wait.**

 **kmfayb: I have many changes to the canonical events coming. And I can say with one hundred percent certainty some of them you won't expect. And that's not a phrase I employ often. I do what I can but life has a habit of getting in the way.**

 **Well that is all of them. A fair bit this time around I must say. Always puts a smile on my face. Well, that done, it is time to move on to the main event.**

* * *

"You lose!" Natsu howled as he sent Zalty slamming into the rocks below, smoke and debris flying in all directions.

Natsu grinned as he landed on one of the tall rocks nearby as the smoke cleared. He then paled as, rather than Zalty, he saw Ultear lying in the rubble, beaten and unconscious. After a moment of thought the pink-haired flame-user paled. "What the hell?! Oh man! I just knocked out a council woman! Crap, crap, crap!"

Ultear groaned in pain as she lay unconscious.

"WhatdoIdo, whatdoIdo, whatdoIdo?!" Natsu sputtered and stammered as he ran in frantic circles.

However, his frantic running stopped as he saw the Moon Drip spell vanish. "Ah crap," he muttered before groaning. "Dammit!" he cursed as he picked up Ultear and ran off.

* * *

Atop the temple, Toby fell in a heap as Erza struck him with her blade.

"Yay!" Lucy cheered. "Now the Moon Drip's stopped!"

Erza turned to the large pedestal in the center of the area and narrowed her eyes. "But did we stop it in time?"

"Hahah!" Toby suddenly shouted as he sat up. "Too late! The ceremony's already been completed!"

Erza glared down at the dog-man. "Oh really?"

However, before Toby could provide an answer, the temple began to shake violently.

"Oh no!" Lucy exclaimed.

"This is bad!" Sherry added in terror.

* * *

Down in the cavern, Gray rushed inside as he saw Deliora stand tall and howl loudly.

"Great, how are we supposed to beat that thing!?" Natsu shouted in frustration.

Gray turned to him to respond but noticed Ultear on Natsu's shoulder. "Wait, who's that?"

Natsu glanced at the unconscious beauty on his shoulders. "It's the creepy mask guy. For some reason it was actually the councilwoman. But we gotta take care of Deliora first!"

However, the two were interrupted as Lyon, beaten and bruised, slowly dragged himself towards Deliora as it howled loudly. "Neither one of you… are strong enough… Not strong enough at –" his words halted as he saw Deliora's begin to crack before the beast began to crumble, falling to pieces before their eyes. Lyon's eyes widened in shock and rage. "No… no… NO! I've waited so long for this moment! You can't take it from me! I was supposed to do the one thing Ur never could!"

Gray trembled in disbelief. "You gotta be kidding me…"

Lyon clenched his fists with anger. "Deliora… was already dead… For ten years… Ur has gradually depleted the demon's life force. And what we just saw was nothing more than its last dying breaths…" Lyon slammed his fist down as rage flowed through his mind. "My dream is dead… there's no hope now. I will never surpass Ur."

"Natsu!" Erza shouted as she, Lucy, Laki, Sherry, Flare, and Happy made their way into the cavern.

Lucy stopped and gasped as she saw the crumbled pieces of Deliora. "Wait… is it… dead…?"

"Yeah…" Gray answered weakly as he looked at the remaining pieces of ice.

Natsu set the unconscious Ultear down and looked at the ice curiously. "Hey, Gray."

"What?" Gray replied dully.

"You said that Ur became the ice around Deliora, right?"

Gray turned to him with a raised brow. "Yeah, why?"

Natsu turned to the others. "Hey, some of you go back to the roof of the temple and continue the Moon Drip."

Erza raised an eyebrow.

"What's the point?" Lucy asked. "Deliora's already freed and dead."

"Just do it," Natsu insisted.

Erza nodded. "I will go inform the priests."

* * *

Outside, the priests looked at Erza with confusion.

"You want us to continue the Moon Drip?" the old woman asked.

Erza nodded. "Yes. Just trust us."

The woman looked around at the others. "Very well. I hope you know what you're doing."

* * *

Natsu turned as Erza reentered the cave. "They should begin soon."

Natsu nodded as he turned back to the pile of ice.

"What are you planning, Natsu?" Gray asked before blinking. "It feels weird to ask that."

Natsu huffed in annoyance before grinning. "Just watch."

Gray raised an eyebrow before the group turned as the light from Moon Drip began pouring down into the cavern.

The group watched curiously as the light shone for several moments before Lucy tilted her head curiously.

"Something wrong?" Laki asked.

Lucy pointed ahead at the ice. "Look."

The others looked ahead as particles of light began rising and floating up from the ice into the air.

Ultear groaned slightly before looking around. "Where…?" She then saw the others to the side. "Wait… my transformation…"

"Whoa!" Lucy suddenly exclaimed.

Ultear, curious at the girl's shout, turned and saw the lights gathering in the air from the ice before gathering in the air above. "What is…?" Her eyes widened as the lights began to form into a new shape.

Gray raised an eyebrow before he felt his blood run cold. "Th – this… can't be happening…"

Natsu merely smirked.

As the lights continued forming together, the shape of a human within the lights came to view before they vanished, revealing the person inside. Ur.

Natsu turned to Gray with a grin. "See?"

"H – how…?"

"Weren't you listening dummy? I said that the moon has the power to negate and reverse all magic. It reversed Iced Shell to the point that Ur was freed from it!"

Gray was about to respond when Ur yawned loudly and sat up.

The black-haired woman looked around with mild confusion. "Wait… this can't be right…" She then turned and saw Gray and Lyon standing nearby. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stood. "This… is impossible…"

"That's my line," Gray retorted in shock as the woman walked towards the group.

Lyon stood shakily as she stepped near them. "U – Ur… is that… is this… real…?"

Natsu smirked. "Told ya."

"What's going on here? How?" Ur asked in bewilderment.

Gray pointed to Natsu.

Ur turned to the pink-haired teen curiously. "You?"

Natsu shrugged. "Sort of. I just thought it would work." Scratching the back of his head with a weak laugh, he added, "I actually didn't know if it'd work or not."

"Stupid!" Gray growled before sighing and turning to Ur. "So… you're real?"

Ur smiled before lightly knocking Gray on the head. "I'd say so. But… why is Lyon on the floor?"

Gray frowned remorsefully. "That's… complicated…"

Natsu pointed at Lyon and explained, "He wanted to revive the big scary demon with Moon Drip." He then pointed at Gray. "He wanted to stop him. So they fought and Gray beat up the ice guy."

Ur sighed and turned to the duo. "Is that true?"

Lyon flinched in worry. "M – maybe…"

Ur sighed heavily before she hit him on the head with a fist.

Lyon stepped back and winced in pain, however both he and Gray stiffened in shock as Ur wrapped her arms around them tightly.

"Wh – what the…?" Gray muttered in confusion.

Ur smiled mirthlessly as she held her two students firmly. "You big dumb idiots… I never wanted this. Why'd you have to fight and try to kill each other…? I did that to free you, not to make you hate each other."

The two stiffened in her arms and began to tremble lightly.

"I… I…" Lyon stammered weakly.

Gray shuddered before reaching his arms up and around Ur as well. "I'm sorry…"

The two then began to release tears of their own.

Erza smiled warmly as she watched the reunion of the students and teacher.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Lucy asked.

Laki smiled and glanced at a smiling Natsu, before turning bright red and nodding. "Yeah…"

Lucy blinked curiously. "You alright?"

Flare huffed in annoyance.

Ur stepped away from the two Ice-Make users and smiled. "I must've been in there for a long time. You two have grown up nicely."

The duo immediately turned red.

Ur laughed in amusement before putting a hand on each of their heads. "You two really shouldn't fight. You're my precious students. The ones I did everything to protect."

Gray and Lyon tensed their fists before bowing to her. "I'm sorry!" they both shouted in unison.

As their reunion continued, Natsu glanced to the side and noticed that Ultear was not beside him. It took only a moment to find her as he saw her trying to sneak away quietly. "Oy, Ultear! Where ya goin'!?"

Ultear stiffened in annoyance. ' _… That little…_ '

Ur winced as well before turning to where Natsu shouted, not believing what she heard. "U – Ul…tear…?"

Ultear stopped and turned around slowly, she was found out. ' _Crap… this is…_ '

Lyon and Gray glanced at each other in confusion.

"Ultear…" Ur muttered in disbelief before a smile worked its way onto her lips. "You're… alive…"

Ultear responded with a small smile of her own. "Y – yes… I am…" ' _I don't… know how to respond to this… I didn't expect this… how did that boy know…?_ '

Ur made her way over to the shocked Ultear, herself equally staggered. "U – Ultear…?"

Ultear smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah… it's me…"

"But… how…?"

Ultear frowned in confusion.

However, before she could respond, Ur immediately ran over and wrapped her arms around Ultear tightly. "It really is you!"

Ultear, slightly smothered from her hug, laughed weakly. "Y – yes, it is… Mother…"

The others gaped in disbelief.

"Ul, how!?" Ur asked energetically as she hugged Ultear tightly.

"I – I could ask you the same thing…" Ultear responded.

However, Laki and Flare interrupted the moment with an annoyed growl.

Lyon and Gray also remarked in unified contempt, "Lucky bastard."

Ur and Ultear blinked curiously before looking down and seeing Natsu sandwiched between them, and more importantly, their bosoms. They immediately stepped away from each other, causing the pink-haired teen to fall to the floor gasping.

Ur's face turned a bright shade of red in surprise.

"Th – this… is absurd…" Ultear mumbled in disbelief.

Happy began to speak but immediately had duct tape slapped over his mouth.

"Not a word, cat," Lucy snapped.

Happy pouted and attempted to pull the tape off.

Ur sighed before turning back to Ultear with a smile. "I can't believe you're alive my little Tear… the doctor said you were… th – that you were…"

Ultear remained silent and tightened her fists. "… Told you… that I was… what…?"

"… He said that… you were… dead…"

Ultear's eyes widened in disbelief, she could not believe the words she was hearing. "Wh – what…? That's absurd! They told me that… that you…!"

"What's going on here…?" Lucy asked in bewilderment.

"No idea…" Flare mumbled.

"I'm so confused…" Natsu muttered as he stood up.

Gray raised an eyebrow in thought. "Wait, you're Ur's daughter…?" He then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Yeah right. Her daughter is dead, she told us herself."

"Then why do they smell almost the same?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"Wait, they what…?"

Ultear tightened her fists as she looked at Ur. "How come you didn't come… didn't look… didn't make sure?!"

Ur stiffened before lowering her gaze and slumping her shoulders in sadness and shame. "They told me… th – that your mana… i – it eradicated your body… destroyed it from the inside out… O – oh my little Tear…"

"Mother… this is…" Ultear trailed off before the conversation was cut short by a loud roar echoing through the air.

"Oh what now!?" Lucy shouted in exasperation.

* * *

The group ran out of the cave and looked up as a massive, black, reptilian beast with six huge wings flew over the temple.

"EEEHHH!?" Lucy and Sherry shouted in mutual disbelieving shock.

"D – D – D…" Gray sputtered in disbelief.

"Dragon!?" Ur exclaimed in shock.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Yuka added in distress.

The dragon landed atop the temple with a loud thud, sending dust flying out as its feet hit the ground hard.

Natsu narrowed his eyes suspiciously before ordering, "Come on, let's go!"

The others nodded in agreement and followed behind as he ran up to the top of the temple.

* * *

As the group neared the temple's roof they saw the dragon sit calmly before a figure dropped from its back.

Natsu's eyes narrowed in thought.

"That thing's huge!" Gray exclaimed.

Lucy raised an eyebrow as she looked at the figure that was atop the dragon, a tall man with shoulder-length blonde hair and dark blue eyes, a blue hook-shaped tattoo on the right side of his face, wearing a brown jacket with light brown fringe, and white fur lining, matching brown trousers, black gloves, and black pants with a massive, double-edged sword slung over his back.

Natsu looked at the man in thought for several seconds before coming to a realization. With a wide grin he shouted, "Yo, Jegan!"

The others all looked at Natsu in confusion.

Ignoring their gazes of confusion, Natsu excitedly ran over to the blonde man. "Hey, what are you doing all the way here?!"

Jegan stood silently, looking at Natsu disinterestedly.

Lucy frowned in concern. ' _I don't like this. Something about that guy seems… off._ '

"Hey, Natsu, do you know this guy?" Laki asked curiously.

Natsu turned with a wide grin. "Yep! He's an old friend of mine from when I lived in the Dragon Village."

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Dragon Village…?"

Natsu nodded in response before returning his gaze back towards Jegan, then to the large dragon behind him. "So who is this? I've never seen a dragon like this before."

"Julia," Jegan responded plainly and evenly.

Natsu stiffened and paled for a moment before laughing weakly. "Come on, don't joke around. There's no way Julia would be in this form."

Laki frowned curiously before glancing at Erza.

Erza shook her head in reply.

Natsu tightened a fist slightly. "I mean… there's no way she could…"

"It is Julia," Jegan answered plainly again.

"Who's Julia?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"One of the dragons Natsu lived with," Flare explained.

Natsu ran towards him and grabbed Jegan's collar. "Stop that crap!"

Jegan narrowed his eyes and slammed his fist into Natsu's chest, sending him flying away from the blonde. "Don't touch me," Jegan demanded coldly.

"What the hell!?" Laki exclaimed as Natsu slammed a fist into the ground to stop himself.

Natsu growled before scowling angrily at Jegan. "What's the deal!? Why'd you hit me!?"

"I have no interest in you, human," Jegan retorted coldly. "I am here for Deliora."

Natsu stiffened in confusion before frowning once more. "What? Jegan stop joking around!"

"Be quiet, human. I am here to obtain Deliora for Demon Card. You won't get in the way."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "Demon… Card…?"

Erza narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"And why do you want a pile of ashes anyway?"

"Deliora's dead," Gray added, "you won't get him."

"I see," Jegan muttered plainly before glancing at Gray and suddenly lashing out with the massive sword he held.

Gray leapt to the side swiftly, narrowly evading the huge blade. "Whoa! What the hell?!"

Jegan stood straight before narrowing his eyes. "I will destroy Rave." He then took a deep breath before shouting, "Fire Dragon Roar!" as a massive blast of flames shot out at Gray.

However, before the blast could reach Gray, Natsu suddenly jumped in its bath and swallowed the flames whole. "What the hell is your problem, dammit?!"

Jegan wordlessly burst forward, his sword ready to swing.

However, Erza appeared in front of Natsu suddenly, blocking Jegan's swing, grunting slightly from the power behind it. "Stop this now! Explain!"

Jegan frowned in disgust. "I have no words for filthy humans." He then kicked at the redhead, sending her tumbling away.

"Erza!" Natsu suddenly shouted as she slid on the ground before turning his gaze to Jegan with a scowl and lighting his fists with flames. "Alright, that's it! I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'll beat some sense into you!" He rushed forward and swung a fist at Jegan, but the blonde dodged the attack easily and kneed the pinkette in the abdomen, sending him tumbling.

"Natsu!" Laki and Flare exclaimed in unified worry.

Flare lowered her brow in anger before sending a torrent of flame at Jegan.

Jegan easily swallowed the flames before sending a flurry of wind back at her.

Laki jumped in front of Flare and sent spikes of wood out that collided with the wind shots, the two attacks cancelling each other out.

Jegan hissed in annoyance before glancing at Natsu. "Who are these two? Some whores you scrounged up to replace Julia?"

Natsu growled loudly before shooting black flames at Jegan. "Shut your fucking mouth!"

Jegan growled in annoyance as he dodged the flames, causing them to hit the wall behind him.

"Don't you _ever_ insult them you bastard!" After a moment, Natsu hissed with rage. "That's it, I'm not gonna knock some sense into you, I'm just gonna knock you out!"

Jegan hissed in derision. "Julia, crush this fool."

The large dragon responded with a growl before raising its front leg and curling into a fist before slamming it down to Natsu.

Natsu growled in pain as he blocked the strike, the ground cracking beneath his feet from the power. ' _Such… power…_ ' He growled before forcing the fist away, knocking the dragon back. Trembling with anger, he howled, "No… why… what did you to her!?"

In his seemingly normal emotionless tone, Jegan answered, "I did nothing. She failed the Dragon Trial."

Natsu's eyes widened angrily. "Liar! There's no way in hell Julia would fail!"

"You're a fool. She failed. Simple as that. Those fools rejected me. So I killed them all, and then destroyed that putrid village. I had planned on her completing the Dragon Trial but I didn't know my own power, and destroyed the temples."

Natsu trembled as he tightened his fists. "Y – You… you… bastard!" Natsu immediately surged forward with flame-encased fists. "You monster!"

Jegan swung his blade out at Natsu as the pinkette charged.

Natsu responded almost immediately, grabbing Decaforce from his back, and swung it up to meet Jegan's blade, the force of the impact causing a small shock wave.

Jegan narrowed his eyes and put more pressure behind his blade, trying to knock Natsu down.

Natsu growled and stamped his foot down before swinging his sword up hard, knocking Jegan back slightly. "Eat this!" Natsu shouted as he swung Decaforce again.

Jegan easily dodged the swing by hopping to the side before shouting, "Earth Dragon Iron Fist!" causing his left arm to turn into a pillar of stone and extend out at Natsu swiftly, sending him flying.

Natsu righted himself in midair before blasting flames from his feet to rocket towards Jegan.

However, before he could reach Jegan, the dragon swatted Natsu with its tail, sending him tumbling away.

Gray hissed in annoyance. "Guess there's no more time for standin' around! Ice-Make: Lance!" Multiple spears of ice shot out towards Jegan at high speed.

Jegan lazily swung his blade, shattering the spears before they could reach him, retaliating by sending blasts of stone back at Gray.

However, before they could impact the half-naked man, a wall of blue-green ice rose in front of him.

"Don't even think it," Ur threatened as she stepped in Jegan's path. "No one attacks my students and gets away with it."

Jegan narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Then I shall kill you as well."

Ur wasted no time before charging at Jegan.

Jegan took in a deep breath before sending blasts of wind at Ur.

Ur waved her hands in front of her, sending shots of ice out, cancelling Jegan's shots, before swinging a fist at him.

Jegan jumped back from the swing, dodging it, only for spikes of ice to emerge from the ground, nearly impaling him. Yet again, Jegan dodged them.

Ur smirked and waved her hand, sending the spikes flying at Jegan.

Jegan hissed in annoyance and swung his blade, smashing the spikes, before swinging his sword at Ur.

Ur blocked with a shield of ice before shattering the shield, the shock wave knocking Jegan back, before sending the shards soaring at Jegan.

"Holy crap!" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief. "She's so strong!"

"Yeah!" Laki added, "Easy S!"

Jegan growled in annoyance before taking a deep breath and sending a powerful stream of flames at Ur.

Ur leapt into the air to dodge the flames and sent spikes of ice at the blonde.

Jegan snarled and dashed to the side to evade the spikes, only to find Ur right next to him.

However, before she could hit him, the dragon's tail swept at her and sent her crashing into a nearby wall.

Jegan raised his blade to strike Ur, however, before he could, branches emerged from the ground and pulled her under.

"Mother!" Ultear shouted.

Laki sighed in relief as Ur reemerged in front of them with the branches releasing her.

"Th – Thanks…" Ur muttered in mild confusion.

Jegan frowned in irritation. "This is becoming ann –" his words were interrupted as Natsu head-butted him in the gut. "Bastard," Jegan cursed in frustration before grabbing Natsu by the back of the neck and began slamming his knee into the pink-haired teen's abdomen repeatedly.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted.

Natsu grabbed Jegan's knee as he came in for another swing, pushed himself up and launched over Jegan's head before slamming a flame-encased fist into Jegan's face.

Jegan snarled angrily and swung his blade at Natsu.

Natsu retaliated by swinging his sword back at Jegan, their sword locking in a clash as the two remained cemented.

Erza capitalized on the chance and summoned two blades before dashing up from behind Jegan.

"What?!" Jegan snarled before lashing back at Erza in the abdomen with his leg, sending her flying back, before grabbing Natsu by the arm and tossing him at the redhead, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Laki tensed and then dashed up behind Jegan as well.

"Albero Blade!" Jegan shouted before branches sprouted from the ground and shot at Laki.

Laki merely devoured the branches as they emerged.

Jegan narrowed his eyes before turning as Erza and Natsu charged with swords raised.

However, the dragon smacked the two away before they could near Jegan.

Gray snarled in annoyance and prepared an attack. "That dragon's really getting on my nerves!"

"Stop!" Natsu urged as he stood up. "Don't hurt her!"

Lucy blinked curiously for a moment before gaping. " _Her_!?"

"It's Julia, she's a friend of mine!"

Jegan's eyes widened maliciously before he stomped Natsu's head into the ground. "A filthy creature like you could never be friends with Julia. I don't care if you are Igneel's adoptive son, you're still a disgusting human."

"Shut up!"

"If you truly did care about Julia you wouldn't have abandoned her."

Natsu stiffened and paled. "Wh – What…?"

"The day you left, all she did was cry. You abandoned her to go on some stupid trip and never came back. You destroyed her."

Natsu tightened his fists and grit his teeth before growling. "No! That's a lie! I'd never do that! Igneel disappeared! I had to find him!"

"He vanished and yet Julia was right in front of you." Jegan huffed in derision. "I suppose we know what's more important."

"Shut up!"

"Why?" Jegan asked before his eyes narrowed sharply. "Don't like the truth?"

Black flames suddenly burst from Natsu's body and surged outward. "I… said… _shut up_!" He immediately blasted Jegan off and then slammed his fist into the blonde's face hard, sending him flying.

Jegan hissed and hit Natsu with his own flame-encased fist, sending the teen flying. "I'm finished toying with you. Give me Rave, or I'll take it from you."

"I don't even know what that is!" Natsu retorted as he launched at Jegan.

"Then die!" Jegan rebutted as he swung his blade.

Gray suddenly jumped between Natsu and Jegan and prepared to attack Jegan. "Ice-Make: –!"

However, before Gray could launch his attack, Jegan swung his large blade at Gray, cutting the necklace the black-haired teen wore around his neck.

Gray noticed Jegan's eyes latch on to the sword-shaped pendant as it fell. Gray instantly grabbed it and then turned to Natsu. "Natsu! This is what he's after!" Gray then immediately threw the pendant towards Natsu, who caught it as it flew.

Jegan snarled and smashed the back of his fist against Gray, knocking him out of the way. However, before he could pursue Natsu he found his feet frozen to the ground.

Nearby, Ur scowled furiously. "You don't pay attention very well. No one attacks my students and gets away with it."

As the others fought, Natsu glanced between the pendant Gray gave him and a small notch on Decaforce's blade. "Hhmm… I wonder…" After a moment of thought he placed the small pendant inside the notch, causing the blade to glow brightly before the word "Eisenmeteor" appeared along the edge. After another moment the blade was enveloped in light and began to shift, the normal silver blade and simple hand guard replaced by a long orange blade that tapered near the end, changing to silver, with dark green markings swirling from the base up the lower orange part of the blade, and an angled, red hand guard with yellow accents.

Natsu glanced down and then noticed the word "Explosion" engraved along the silver end of the blade. "Explosion, huh…" With a grin, the teen added, "This is pretty cool!"

Jegan narrowed his eyes in frustration. "So… that's how it is…"

"Whoa, it transformed!" Happy exclaimed.

"Wow…" Flare muttered in disbelief.

Jegan turned to the dragon nearby. "Julia, kill the Rave Master."

The dragon, Julia, responded with a growl before turning to Natsu.

"Kill the what…?" Natsu asked in confusion.

Erza then Requipped into her Black Wing armor and ordered, "Natsu, take care of him, I will handle the dragon!"

Natsu tightened his fist before nodding. "Okay. Just… don't hurt her… please…"

Lucy muttered weakly, "Hey, uh, Natsu, it's a dragon, I don't think –"

"She's not just a fucking dragon!" Natsu interjected angrily. "She's my best friend!"

"Eek! Scary…"

Erza smirked as two blades appeared in her grasp. "Do not worry… I do not think I have the capacity to severely injure her, just keep her occupied long enough for you to take him down."

"Thanks," Natsu returned before charging at Jegan.

Jegan reciprocated and charged at Natsu, both swinging their blades simultaneously.

However, to the shock of both, when their blades clashed, Decaforce released a powerful explosion, sending Jegan flying back.

"Wh – What the hell…?" Jegan groaned angrily.

Natsu blinked curiously before smiling widely. "Whoa! Badass!"

Jegan snarled in irritation before waving an arm. "Seed Vulcan!" Small plants then rose from the ground, launching seeds at Natsu.

Natsu slashed out with his blade, destroying the flying seeds with the resulting explosion and then surged forward at Jegan.

Jegan narrowed his eyes as Natsu charged.

Natsu stopped when the visage of a blonde woman appeared before him. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Julia…?"

"Why Natsu…?" the woman before him asked with a mournful tone soaking her voice. "Why did you do it…?"

Natsu winced in response. "I – I didn't…"

His response was cut short as Ultear's orb slammed into the side of his head, simultaneously causing the visage of the blonde woman to disappear.

Natsu blinked in bewilderment.

"It's an illusion you fool!" Ultear called out.

Natsu blinked in confusion before scowling at Jegan and charging.

Jegan growled before charging as well.

Natsu swung Explosion at the blonde, but Jegan leapt over Natsu's swing and slashed at the pink-haired teen's midsection.

' _Damn… I can't dodge!_ ' Natsu shouted in his mind as the large blade prepared to bisect him.

However, just before the blade were to hit Natsu, a wall of ice emerged, causing the large blade to bounce off, sending Jegan skidding back.

Ur sighed in relief. "Made it just in time." She then turned to Jegan with a scowl. "I'm not going to let you hurt my little girl's boyfriend."

Nearly everyone in the area face-faulted in disbelief, even Jegan twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

"Mom!" Ultear shouted in frustration with a bright red face of embarrassment.

Ur blinked in confusion. "What?"

"He is _not_ my boyfriend!" Ultear argued vehemently, her face growing further red. "I'm single!"

Ur folded her arms in confusion. "But he was holding you so lovingly before."

Ultear's face glowed a deeper red as she rebutted, "Because he was carrying me while I was unconscious!"

Ur blinked curiously and then tilted her head. "From sex?"

"No!" Ultear argued with a deep blush. "From fighting!"

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she was transformed into some creepy little man and kicked her butt."

"Ah…" Ur muttered in thought. "So… my little 'Tear likes anal?"

Ultear collapsed to the ground in tears. "Why…? Why is my mother so stupid…?"

Jegan hissed in annoyance. "This pathetic. I'll do you a favor and kill all of you."

"Yeah right!" Natsu argued as he raised his blade once more. "I'm going to kick your ass!"

Jegan snarled in derision. "The only thing you will do is die, false dragon."

"He isn't a false dragon, you gecko!" Laki argued.

Flare whipped her hair, sending shots of flame at Jegan while Laki sent spikes of wood flying at him.

Sherry then raised her hands high into the air. "I'll fight too! Doll Attack: Puppeteer!" Her eyes then began to glow before Julia was encased in light.

The black dragon then began growling and thrashing.

"Julia!" Natsu shouted with concern.

Sherry grumbled in frustration. "She's… resilient…"

Jegan's eyes suddenly widened with rage as he sent blasts of stone, wind, and flame flying at Sherry.

Natsu reacted instantly and jumped in front of the incoming attacks, swinging Explosion to destroy them. He then glanced back at Sherry. "You alright, Sherry?"

Sherry nodded weakly. "Y – yeah… thank you."

Jegan sneered in derision. "Foolish girl. You cannot overpower my Dragon Supremacy Magic."

Natsu growled angrily as light pulsed on his left arm. "I'm not going to let you control Julia anymore you bastard!"

"Humph, as if you could stop me."

"Wanna bet!?" Natsu argued before charging at Jegan, swinging Explosion, only for Jegan to dodge to the side.

"The same trick won't work twice," Jegan taunted before sending blasts of wind at Natsu.

A wall of tree roots emerged from the ground and absorbed the blasts.

"Natsu!" Laki shouted. "You worry about hitting him, I'll deal with his attacks!"

Natsu nodded in recognition and continued his charge at Jegan.

"Annoying wench!" Jegan hissed.

Lucy tightened her fists angrily. "I'm not going to just stand around and do nothing!" She then pulled one of the keys from her belt. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

Taurus appeared from a summoning circle, turning to Lucy with a perverse grin. "You're looking fine as usual, Miss Lucy!"

"Stop perving on me and take out that blonde weirdo!"

Taurus blinked and turned to see Natsu slashing repeatedly at Jegan, the latter dodging each of Natsu's swings. With a grin, Taurus pulled out his ax and boasted, "I'll cut him in half!" With a loud moo, the cow-man then charged at Jegan, raising his ax high above his head for a powerful swing.

Jegan narrowed his eyes and swung his sword up, blocking Taurus' swing.

"Gotcha!" Natsu snarled as he charged at Jegan, only for the blonde to spin on his heel and slam his other foot into Natsu's abdomen, sending the pink-haired teen, flying, all while holding his blade up to block Taurus.

Flare sent several shots of flaming hair at Jegan as Laki added with shots of wood.

Jegan snarled and punched Taurus in the abdomen, causing the large biped to buckle, before grabbing him by the collar and throwing him at the incoming attacks.

"Taurus!" Lucy shouted in worry.

Sherry sighed and raised her hands. "Doll Attack: Rock Doll!" A large, humanoid puppet made of stone then rose from the ground, Sherry standing on a tower-like structure on its head.

"Wh – Whoa!" Lucy mumbled as she too stood atop the creature. "Wh – Why'd you bring me up here?!"

"You want to help Natsu too, don't you?" Sherry asked.

Lucy looked at her in thought before nodding.

"And due to your magic being the way it is, you'll have a better chance if you can see the battlefield from above."

"Uh… right. Thanks."

* * *

Julia howled loudly before spitting flames at Erza.

Erza hissed in frustration as sections of her armor turned orange with heat and deformed. Discarding the broken pieces, she growled, "Those flames are powerful. If I am not careful I will be killed."

Julia then reared back before sending another torrent of flames.

However, before the flames reached Erza, a large wall of ice formed in front of her. She turned curiously and saw Ur nearby.

"Need some help caging this one?" Ur asked with a small smirk.

Erza nodded with a similar smirk before turning back to Julia. "If we can just keep her attention, then Natsu and the others should be able to solve this."

Ur nodded and then blinked curiously. "Wait… who's that?"

"Who?" Erza turned and then saw Toby standing next to Julia. He looked around curiously, noticing that she stood on the pedestal for Moon Drip, and, after a moment of thought, crouched down next to it.

"What is he…?" Erza asked in thought before she watched as the moonlight began to stream down onto the large dragon.

"She's distracted by his little trick, let's take this chance to try and subdue her," Ur urged.

Erza nodded in agreement as she summoned more swords.

* * *

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu howled as he sent a stream of flame at Jegan, only for Jegan to slice through the blast and shoot back with a stream of wind.

Laki raised a wall of wood to block the attack, Natsu leaping over before rushing at Jegan, Flare supporting him with shots at the blonde.

Jegan dodged all of Flare's shots, leant to the side to dodge Natsu's strike, and then kneed Natsu in the abdomen, sending him flying at Laki before ducking under Taurus' swing and retaliating with his own, sending the bovine man flying.

"This guy's really strong," Laki grumbled as Natsu helped her up.

"Yeah. This is gonna be a pain," Natsu growled as he readied Explosion once more.

"I'm not thrilled about the turn of events," Yuka mumbled in annoyance, "but I'm not interested in dying, so I suppose it'd be a good idea to help you."

Natsu blinked and then smirked. "Go right ahead. Just don't get in my way."

"Humph, I could say the same."

"It doesn't matter how many pests you bring into the fight," Jegan sneered, "I'll crush you all."

"In your dreams, buddy," Gray taunted as he slammed his fist into his hand. "We'll take you down for sure!" Entering his common Ice-Make stance, Gray thrust his hands forward as he shouted, "Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer!" Multiple large spears of ice shot from a magic circle and soared towards Jegan as Natsu and Taurus flanked the blonde sword-wielder.

"Foolish," Jegan sneered before planting his sword in the ground and placing both hands in front of him. "Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" he shouted before a massive blast of flame erupted from his fists, engulfing Gray's attack and destroying it, and sending Natsu and Taurus flying from the sheer force.

"That hurt more than I expected," Natsu groaned as he stood.

"I've had it up to here with yoou!" Taurus grumbled as he charged once more. "For Miss Luucy I'll chop yoou in half!" Taurus swung several times at Jegan, his large ax going past Jegan as the blonde lazily dodged past each strike.

"I've had enough of you," Jegan groaned before swinging a flame-encased fist out, knocking Taurus' ax to the side, before swinging his huge blade down with great force at Taurus.

"Taurus!" Lucy shouted from atop Sherry's Rock Doll.

Taurus stumbled back as he began to shimmer with light. "S – Sorry… Miss Luucy…" he muttered before vanishing.

"Dammit," Natsu snarled, "this is going bad." He then blinked in thought. ' _Hang on a sec… that Spirit lady gave me that new Key._ ' Pulling the new key he had received from his pocket he frowned in thought. ' _Guess it's worth a try._ ' Raising the key above his head, Natsu shouted, "Open, Gate of the Golden Lion: Leo!"

The others turned in curiosity as a golden magic circle appeared before a large plume of smoke erupted from it.

As the smoke cleared, a figure stepped out.

Natsu blinked curiously and then gaped slightly as he saw a tall, curvy, fair-skinned young woman with very long, knee-length blonde hair that draped down her back and framed her young round face, deep orchid eyes, and wearing a long, knee-length yellow dress that tightly hugged her curves, showing her sizable bosom underneath, with white fur around the collar, a red rose on a white ascot, and slightly longer white dress underneath, a similarly yellow headdress decorated with red roses and white trim, bright white tights, tall yellow boots with white fur and red roses, a long pale-handled sword with gold accents slung across her waist along the back.

The woman looked around curiously before turning to Natsu. In calm, regal tone, she asked, "Are you he who summoned me?"

Natsu blinked in confusion. "Uh… yeah. I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

"I am the new Leo," she explained calmly as the wind blew past.

Natsu nodded slowly. "Uh… right. Look, can we work on the contract later? I've got a bit of a situation."

"That is acceptable." Leo glanced to the side as Jegan charged. "Is that the situation?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

Leo drew her sword, the blade made of pure energy, glowing bright blue, before charging towards Jegan.

Jegan swung his blade at Leo, only for the nimble woman to easily duck under his swing before rising back up with her own swipe, cutting a large gash in his torso.

Jegan hissed in pain before growling as he kicked at Leo.

Leo grabbed his foot as he lunged and used it to vault over his head and land behind him, planting another gash on his back.

Natsu to the chance and charged as well, Explosion raised.

Jegan spat a gout of flames which Natsu greedily devoured, only to find Jegan less than a meter away.

However, before he could strike, Jegan was grabbed by a length of wood that tossed him into the air.

"You annoying…" Jegan hissed at Laki before preparing to attack, which was interrupted as Leo swung her blade and sent several large crescents of energy at him, carving multiple gouges in his body.

Natsu leapt into the air above Jegan. "Explosion!" Natsu howled as he swung at Jegan, hitting him with the blade and a powerful explosion, sending the blonde flying.

Ur raised a hand before thrusting it forward, peppering Jegan with ice spikes before he crashed into the water below.

Natsu sighed heavily before Explosion glowed lightly and returned to its base form. Natsu glanced down and noticed a word on the blade of Decaforce, "Eisenmeteor".

"Huh…" he muttered.

"I can't believe we finally got rid of him…" Lucy groaned as Sherry's Rock Doll collapsed slowly.

"Okay, Natsu," Gray growled before grabbing the pinkette by the collar, "who the hell was that guy!?"

Natsu tightened his fists. "He was –"

However, before Natsu could answer, Julia suddenly started thrashing and howling wildly.

Natsu's eyes widened in terror. "Julia!"

"This is bad," Ultear noted, "she's going wild!"

Erza grit her teeth. "At her size, she will cause even more destruction than Deliora!"

"Julia! Stop this!" Natsu pleaded

Sherry tightened her fists desperately, deciding she had only one course of action. "I guess there's no choice…" Sherry raised her hands up as her eyes lit. "Doll Attack: Puppeteer!"

Julia was bathed in light as she continued thrashing.

Sherry winced as she continued her attack. "Dammit… she's resilient… obey me! It's for your own good!"

After a few moments, the black dragon's movements slowed.

"Sherry, keep going!" Natsu insisted. "It's working!"

Julia slowly began to be consumed in light.

Natsu furrowed his brow in thought. "What's going on…? Sherry…?"

Sherry shook her head in confusion. "I don't know, it's not me."

Soon Julia's entire body was enclosed in light.

Natsu frowned in worry before they all watched as the light flickered and shifted before shrinking, eventually forming a humanoid shape and dispersing. Natsu's eyes widened in disbelief before he shot flames from his feet and leapt up to the summit of the temple.

* * *

Atop the temple was a young woman with long, slightly wavy blonde hair that reached down to her waist, with two locks of hair hanging down, framing her face, with light brown eyes, stopping just above her sizable bust. She was, however, completely nude and unconscious.

Natsu's eyes widened further as he picked the woman up lightly. "Julia! Julia! It's me!"

The others ran up to the top of the temple, Gray being immediately knocked back down as blood shot from his nose.

"W – Wait a second!" Lucy interjected. "How did that dragon… become _her_?!"

Natsu then explained, "After a certain age, dragons have to do something called a Dragon Trial. If they succeed they gain the full powers of a dragon concentrated in a human body. But if they fail, they turn into a mindless dragon…"

"Wait… so she actually _became_ that thing!?"

Natsu shot Lucy a mild glare.

"Eep! S – Sorry!"

Erza put a hand on his shoulder as she crouched down next to him. "Do not be angry with her, Natsu. She simply does not understand how these matters work." With a light sigh, she added, "Truthfully, neither do I."

Natsu felt a light hit atop his head.

Julia groaned slightly before opening her eyes slowly. "Ugh… who's… being so loud…?" Her gaze moved over to Natsu, causing her eyes to widen in disbelief. "N – Natsu…? Am I… dead…?"

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? Of course not."

Julia frowned as she sat up. "But that's impossible… I saw it. I saw you… die."

"I don't know what you saw, but I'm definitely alive, and so are you."

Ultear stepped up and questioned, "Out of curiosity, was it Jegan who came to you after you saw this?"

Julia hissed as she saw Ultear. "It's none of your business, human."

Natsu put a hand in front of her. "H – Hey, calm down. They're my friends… _your_ friends. They're not enemies."

Julia sighed and then closed her eyes in thought before wincing and grabbing her head in pain.

"J – Julia!"

"I… I remember it now. It's hazy but I can see it… Jegan, he… he…" her eyes widened before she grit her teeth angrily. "He destroyed it… the village. He destroyed it and killed everyone… But my memory… it's so foggy after that…"

"He had you under his command with something he called Dragon Supremacy Magic," Erza cleared up.

Julia blinked in thought and then sighed. "That's right… he was born with the ability to use that magic… that's why his family kicked him out… and why the village hated him…"

Natsu frowned somberly in thought, he had never understood why Jegan was hated.

Julia shook with a small, mirthless laugh. "He always seemed like a good kid, just a little quiet. Guess they were right to distrust him."

"But… he was our friend…" Natsu argued.

"Everything seemed okay until Jade left."

Lucy furrowed her brow in thought. "Who's Jade?"

Julia glanced at Natsu, who nodded in return. "Jegan's older brother. He's also the only one in his family, and by extension the village, who showed Jegan any affection. But that stopped when Jade left the village five years ago. I guess that's about the time Jegan changed."

Ultear raised her hand slightly and added, "From the sounds of it, he likely cast an illusion of some kind to make you believe Natsu had died. And if he did, then it's highly likely he was always like that, Jade's presence merely kept it in check."

Both Natsu and Julia slumped in defeat.

Gray, now rejoined with the group and a hand over his bleeding nose, raised his other hand. "H – hey, can you… cover up…?"

Julia blinked curiously and then looked down, realizing she was completely exposed. With a frown she rebutted, "Or you can just close your eyes. I don't much like having to wear clothes when I don't have to."

Natsu shook his head. "No, I'd prefer it if you wore something, I don't want other guys looking at you."

Julia blinked for a moment before smirking. "As you wish." She then stood up, causing the other girls to frown with mild jealousy as they looked at her curvaceous body.

Natsu then turned to Erza. "Hey, Erza, it is alright if Julia borrows one of your outfits for a bit?"

Erza shook her head. "I do not mind."

Natsu turned back to Julia. "That fine?"

Julia shrugged. "I'd rather not wear anything but if I must it's fine."

Erza waved a hand, causing a magic circle to open, from which an outfit dropped out that she then handed to Julia.

* * *

Moments later, Julia stepped out to the group, clad in the new outfit, an orange tank top with dark blue borders, as well as a single dark blue line over the middle, dark blue elbow warmers, matching orange bloomers with a thin, dark brown garter belt attached to long, thigh-high, brown, high-heeled boots. "So, what do you think?" Julia asked with a smirk as she tugged lightly at the shoulder of the top.

Natsu nodded with a smile. "I like it."

"We should head back to the village and inform the villagers of our current standing," Erza explained.

Natsu nodded with agreement and picked up Decaforce. However, as he did, the blade began to crack along the bottom before the blade snapped. "Eh…? Aaahhh! My sword broke!"

"That's not good…" Lucy muttered.

"What now?" Sherry questioned.

"For now let us finish this quest," Erza directed. "After that we will go about fixing the sword."

The others nodded in agreement.

* * *

As the group made their way down the hill, Natsu turned to Ultear and asked, "So why was a Councilwoman all the way out here?"

Ultear frowned momentarily before answering, "Simple. I wanted to ensure the destruction of Deliora was successful."

"Ah… okay."

Ur frowned in confusion. "Wait, you're on the Council?"

Ultear stopped and turned to her mother, slightly perplexed. "Yes. Why?"

Ur immediately fell to her knees, weeping. "Where did I go wrong?"

Ultear twitched an eyebrow. "How is that a bad thing!?"

"It's horrible!"

Lucy shrugged before grinning. "Who cares? We completed our first S-Class Quest!"

Erza then coughed lightly, getting the group's attention and causing the Fairy Tail members to freeze in fear.

"Eek! You're still gonna punish us, aren't you…?!"

"If I am not mistaken," Erza began, "you are forgetting something."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "We are?"

"The request was to return the villagers to normal, not destroy Deliora. You still have yet to finish the quest."

"But haven't they returned to normal?"

* * *

"Nope," Lucy deadpanned as the group entered the village, only to see all of the villagers still in their demonic forms.

"Aw great!" Natsu groaned in frustration. "Now what!? They still look part human!"

Moka growled angrily. "We _are_ human you fool! We want you to cure us of this mutation! Destroy the moon!"

Lucy frowned in confusion. "Wait… I don't get it…"

"It's Moon Drip," Julia clarified. "And you're not mutating, idiots. The illusion you put on yourselves is dispelling in a bad way and messing with your heads."

"What…?" Moka asked, confused and annoyed.

"Moon Drip is a spell that utilizes the holy light of the moon. It causes severe mental issues in demons as a result. You people aren't humans being mutated into demons. You're demons who've disguised yourselves as humans and are having your brains stirred around because of this dolt." Julia then punched Lyon in the arm lightly, causing him to stumble and rub his arm in discomfort.

Moka glared defiantly. "You swine! You lie! You know nothing!"

Julia grabbed him by the ear and pulled. "I know a lot more than you, ya senile ol' fool! I know a demon when I see one! And you are all demons!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Let go!"

"Make me, midget."

"She's scary…" Happy commented fearfully.

Julia let him go and backed up with a sigh. "Still don't believe me?" Julia then back far away from the others before her body was bathed in light a she transformed back into her draconic form.

"I thought we cured her!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Dragons can switch back and forth between human and dragon forms at will," Natsu explained.

"… Oh…"

Julia flapped her wings momentarily before soaring straight into the air towards the discolored moon, took a deep breath, and then exhaled a massive blast of flames, resulting in an immense explosion.

The moon's color reverted to normal as sparkles of light fell upon the village.

The villagers looked around in confusion.

"O – Oh dear…" Moka muttered as Julia landed and returned to human form.

"Remember now?" Julia asked.

* * *

 **And there you have the seventh chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did be sure to post a review letting me know. If you were confused or unsure about anything then be sure to post a review with your questions and I will do my best to address them. If you did not enjoy it, post a review if you must but I would suggest spending your time on something you enjoy instead. Well, nothing else to say so until the next chapter, buh-bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

 **Hello and greetings to all. I have prepared yet another chapter of Embodiment of Flame for you all. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, a small sample of you seem to at least. I equally hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well, be sure to post a review if you do or if anything confuses you. As usual I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with this story and others, and for his continued help on them. So with that done, how about we move on to the reviewer responses?**

 **Jalis: That's the intention. Cool. I've sort of melded the Fairy Tail and Rave dragons into one. Haha, don't worry, I'm sure most people have by this point. How so? They seem far more exciting to me at least. And to Bakuto.**

 **Well Natsu may be you-know-what but all of those are hidden right now, so he is, for the most part, human. Plus during sex he's more in control right now and doesn't want to hurt them.**

 **superpeirce: I see. I suppose you have a fair point there. I've considered many times about doing that but I haven't come up with the best format to do so. You seem to know Tales of Xillia so I will skip the characters from it, but Leo is from Senran Kagura and Julia, in case you aren't aware, is from Rave Master, or Groove Adventure Rave, or just Rave depending on which version you're most familiar with. If you mentioned specifically which characters you didn't know it'd make things a little simpler.**

 **hornofdesolation: Thank you. As I mentioned, the Leo is Leo from Senran Kagura.**

 **correnhimself316: And you will learn more as the story progresses. But what I can tell you, in case you had not picked up this much already, is that they are both dragons and both grew up with Natsu.**

 **That just about does it for the reviewer responses, rather robust this time around, so without further adieu, it is time to move on to the main event.**

 **WARNING: There is a lemon in this chapter. I will have it marked, so just be aware.**

* * *

Julia landed on the ground and reverted to her human form after flying into the sky and seemingly destroying the moon.

"O – Oh dear…" Moka muttered as Julia landed and returned to human form.

"Remember now?" Julia asked.

Moka gulped heavily. "Y – Yes…"

"Good."

Ultear looked around and then snapped her fingers, causing the area to glow before the crater that was once the village began to fill in and, moments later, the village was restored to its former state completely.

Moka gasped in awe, as did Natsu and the others.

"Awesome!" Natsu exclaimed before turning to Ultear. "We could really use someone like you in Fairy Tail, Ulchan!"

Ultear turned to him suddenly, surprise etched on her face.

With a grin, Natsu added, "If we had you around we wouldn't need to hold back! You could fix everything!"

Ultear twitched an eyebrow before her orb began to float before beaning him right between the eyes. "I am _not_ a repairman you dolt!"

Natsu pouted as he rubbed the bruise on his forehead. "Aaww. But your powers would get the Council geezers off our backs better than Lakichan's Wood Dragon Magic!"

Ultear sighed heavily. "You do realize I am _in_ the Council, don't you?"

Julia turned to the others mildly perplexed. "Council? You humans still use those? After my father took over, the dragons stopped using them because of how inefficient they are. He said all they do is bicker like dragonlings fighting over a carcass and punish others for their own inadequacies."

With a sigh, Ultear replied, "I can attest to the first part. I can't say about the second but there are several Councilors who probably would if given the chance."

Lucy blinked curiously. "Wait… so your dad is a… king?"

Julia nodded. "Yes. Though I doubt you've heard of him."

Moka walked up to the Fairy Tail members somberly. "I must thank you for your work. And I apologize for my earlier… excitement."

Erza waved a hand dismissively. "No, that is not necessary. Besides, this was an illegally taken mission, therefore we cannot accept payment."

"WHAT!?" Natsu, Lucy, Laki, and the others bellowed in unison.

Moka frowned in confusion. "Please, at least accept this Celestial Spirit Key."

"Y – Yeah!" Lucy insisted.

Erza nodded and took the key. "We will." She then turned to Lucy with a harsh frown. "However, you will not receive the key until I deem it appropriate."

Lucy pouted heavily.

Natsu folded his arms with disappointment. "And here I was hoping this job would help out with Lucy's rent problem from the last quest…"

Lucy turned to him with disbelief. "W – Wait… that's why you took this job…?"

Natsu turned to her with a nod. "Yeah… When Laki gave it to me it looked like an easy way to get you money as an apology…"

Lucy immediately turned away to hide her reddened cheeks. "Y – You didn't have to do that…"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "I didn't? But don't you need a house?"

"W – Well… yeah… but you don't need to worry about that…"

Natsu grinned and put a hand on her shoulder. "Aw, come on! We're Fairy Tail! We help each other out! Next job I'll _definitely_ get the money for ya! Even if I have to fight Erza!"

Gray huffed lightly. "Yeah, that's not happening."

Natsu twitched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, ice brain?"

"Enough talking!" Moka interrupted. "Let's celebrate!"

* * *

Ur drooled as she looked over the huge table, filled with food. "This is one heck of a spread!"

Natsu sat next to Julia, consuming flames coming from her finger.

Flare twitched an eyebrow as she swallowed flames from a piece of burning coal.

Laki huffed and stabbed her fork into a head of lettuce and bit down hard.

Lucy laughed uncomfortably. ' _This atmosphere is getting too heavy…_ '

Laki glanced to the side and noticed several of the demon women flirting with Gray. "That's just not right…"

Ultear then stood from the table and began walking away.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

"I just need to tell the others that my mission here is complete," Ultear explained.

"Ah." Laki then paled in fear. "Wait… if you're from the Council… then that means we'll be getting arrested… doesn't it…?"

"Not if you keep quiet about this," Ultear mentioned with a smirk.

"R – Right…"

Ur, swaying from side to side, her face deep red with intoxication, hiccupped before remarking sloppily, "I still can't believe you're with the Council…"

Julia twitched an eyebrow and slammed her hand down on the table, cracking it slightly. "Where'd you get booze?!"

"From the, hiccup, booze fairy…"

Moka laughed lightly in amusement. "It's alright, we have plen – where'd it go?"

The others turned to see Julia greedily guzzling down directly from one of the bottles

Lucy gaped and warned, "Wh – Whoa! You should slow down!"

Julia gasped as she set the empty bottle down. "Oh yeah, why?! I'm just gettin' started!"

Laki groaned heavily. "Great… another Cana…"

Erza stopped as she too gulped down a bottle. "Pah! Natsu!"

"Eek!" Natsu shrieked in fear.

"Get over here!"

"Aye, sir!" Natsu answered fearfully.

Julia grabbed him and buried his head in her cleavage. "Nuh-uh! He's stayin' right here!"

Erza twitched an eyebrow. "Is that so…? He is my man first!"

"Bull! He was mine first!"

Erza huffed in derision. "Mira popped his cherry before I could."

Julia blinked curiously before grabbing Natsu by the collar and hoisting him up angrily. "You've already had sex!?"

"U – Uh… yeah…?" Natsu with confusion and fear.

Julia twitched an eyebrow before she began bawling. "I was supposed to be your first!" Her tears continued as she repeatedly slammed Natsu's head against the table.

"Ul!" Ur suddenly shouted in her drunken stupor, "Save your boyfriend!"

Ultear groaned in frustration. "I told you already, he's not my boyfriend!"

Lucy sighed heavily as the shouting continued all around her.

* * *

The following morning, Gray stood with Lyon, near the edge of the village. "So what now, Lyon?"

"I'm going to get stronger," Lyon answered with determination. "With Ur back, I can pursue my dream of surpassing her. But I think I'll take a different approach this time."

Gray raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Different how?"

"I haven't decided on that yet."

The two's conversation was then summarily interrupted by loud shouting.

"Stop hanging on him!" Julia demanded angrily.

"No! He's my love, and I won't let him go!" Sherry argued, her arms wrapped tightly around one of Natsu's.

"He's mine, cherry girl!"

Natsu then pushed the two of them away, frustrated. "Okay, stop it! Both of you!"

Erza sighed heavily. "Are you ready to get going?"

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We're going to ride Ophi, right?"

"No," Erza said bluntly.

"Why…?" Natsu asked worriedly.

Julia twitched an eyebrow. "Who's Ophi? Another woman?!"

Laki put a hand on Julia's shoulder. "Word of advice, if you get angry about every new woman Natsu has, you'll have an aneurism. Because there are quite a few."

Julia growled in annoyance.

Lucy turned to Ur curiously. "So what're you going to do now, Ms. Ur?"

Ur put a hand up. "Please, Ur is just fine." With a sigh, she added, "And to be honest, I'm not sure."

Natsu grinned happily. "You should join Fairy Tail. I know we'd be glad to have you! And it'd give Ul a reason to visit too!"

Ur turned to Natsu slightly confused. "But isn't visiting her boyfriend reason enough?"

Ultear groaned heavily. "For the last time, he's not my boyfriend!"

Happy suddenly jumped in realization. "I knew I remembered you! You're the pretty lady that wanted to talk to Natsu privately after Erza's trial."

"I knew it!" Ur shouted excitedly. "He _is_ your boyfriend!" She glanced at Natsu with a smirk. "I _definitely_ approve."

Ultear growled as she strangled Happy. "I'm gonna kill you, you stupid cat!" She then directed her attention to her mother. "And no! He is NOT my boyfriend!"

Ur frowned in thought. "But you two are so good for each other. And I approve!"

Ultear pointed at Natsu with one and continued strangling Happy with the other. "I am in the Council, and he is in one of the guild's I am supposed to watch over! It's a complete conflict of interest!"

Ur tilted her head in confusion. "Oh? How so?"

Ultear groaned deeply.

* * *

Natsu collapsed on the ground as they walked off of the pirates' ship. "Land! Yay!"

Ur turned to Ultear somberly. "So I guess this is where we part ways, Ul?"

Ultear nodded. "Yes. But only for the time being."

Natsu groaned as he looked at his damaged sword. "Man… Decaforce is trashed…"

"You should be able to get it repaired by any blacksmith," Ultear recommended, "though if you have the time and money I'd suggest you go east to the Lyric Continent and find Musica. He's the world's most famous blacksmith. And I presume that fame is not without reason."

"Musical?"

Ultear knocked him on the head lightly. "Musica. He lives in a city called Punk Street in the southern Lyric nation of Yamato. It shouldn't be too hard to find."

Natsu smiled brightly and hugged her. "Thanks, Ul!"

"Ah-ha!" Ur shouted confidently. "I'd say that's proof enough he's your boyfriend."

Ultear turned red and pushed Natsu away. "No, this little fool is simply overly affectionate."

"Actually…" Laki mumbled, "he doesn't hug people like that very often."

Julia nodded in agreement.

Ur grinned knowingly.

Ultear twitched an eyebrow with a wry smile as one of her orbs floated in her hand. "If you all don't shut up… I'll knock you out…"

"So my Li'l 'Tear is into S&M? There may be hope for you yet."

Lyon stared at Ultear deeply in thought for several moments. "… You're Zalty."

Ultear dropped her orb, gaping in disbelief.

"Man you're stupid," Gray chided.

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Gray level stupid."

"Shut it, Pinky."

"Make me!"

Erza glared at the two, causing their squabble to instantly cease.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll be on my way back to the Council. There's likely a mountain of paperwork waiting for me," Ultear noted before leaving.

* * *

Soon, the group made their way back to the Fairy Tail guildhall.

Ur looked around the building, surveying it. "Nice place."

Natsu took a deep sigh of relief. "It's great to be back!"

"Indeed it is," Erza noted in concurrence.

"Hey!" a new voice shouted.

Natsu turned to the side and saw a girl with short, light-brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, a large bang covering most of her forehead, big brown eyes, as well as a rather large bust, who wore a white and red spaghetti strap top with a red Cercelee cross design on it that hugged her generous bust, a denim miniskirt with slits up both side, knee-high boots with light-brown borders, a flower-patterned armband on her right arm, a necklace with a small, heart-shaped pendant, and a belt around her waist which held up a pair of tonfas.

"Welcome back!" the girl greeted with a bright smile.

Natsu returned her smile with a wide grin of his own. "Elie! When did you get back?"

"We finished our last job just a couple days ago," a young woman with long, straight, bright green hair that reached down to her lower back, and a set of long bangs that framed her face along with straight-cut bangs over her forehead, brown-purple eyes, and red lipstick wearing a revealing, brown bikini top with yellow borders that accentuated her voluptuous bosom, a small, red vest, light brown, fringed armbands around her biceps, brown and yellow bands around her wrists and forearms, a light brown, pleated miniskirt with a brown belt, high-heeled red cowgirl boots with brown fringe, and a red cowgirl hat with an up-curved brim said with a smirk as she walked up to the group.

Lucy blinked curiously as she looked at the duo. "Uuhh, Natsu, who are they?"

The green-haired woman motioned to herself and explained, "My name's Bisca Moulin and this," she paused to motion to the brunette who waved with a smile, "is Elie. We're team Guns and Roses."

"Ah…" With an apologetic smile, Lucy added, "I've never heard of you."

Bisca laughed lightly. "That's not surprising. We generally try to make ourselves scarce whenever reporters come here."

Elie puffed her cheeks, annoyed. "I hate that bug…"

Lucy blinked in confusion. "… Bug…?"

"She's referring to Jason, Sorcerer Weekly's main reporter," Mirajane explained. "He has a bit of an… eccentric personality."

Bisca hissed lightly. "If you ask me that guy needs to be squashed."

Mirajane waved a hand dismissively. "Now, now. He's a nice guy, just a little hyperactive."

Lisanna raised an eyebrow. "Sis, he tried to get you to do a –"

Lisanna was interrupted as both Bisca and Mirajane slapped their hands over her mouth.

"Like I was saying…" Mirajane mumbled lightly before she glanced over at Natsu and sighed in relief that he was not paying attention to the conversation. She then looked at Julia and the others curiously. "So, who are our new friends?"

Flare pointed to Julia, "Childhood sweetheart," then to Sherry, "saved by giving food and water," and then she pointed to Ur, "and Councilwoman Ultear's mother that we unintentionally revived."

Macao crushed his mug with a twitching eyebrow as he looked at Julia and Sherry. "I'm suddenly feeling really angry…"

Elfman pouted. "I feel less manly…"

Bisca, however, smirked happily. "More girls, more fun."

"So, will all three of you be joining Fairy Tail?" Mirajane asked with a smile.

Julia nodded, as did Sherry and Ur.

* * *

Laki sighed as she looked at Julia, who got a red Fairy Tail mark on her right shoulder. "Was it really necessary for her to get the same one as Natsu…?"

Natsu looked at the mark and grinned. "Awesome, Julia!"

Sherry pulled her blouse down after having received hers just under her breasts.

Ur smirked as she looked at her mark on the right side of her upper back.

"Glad to see everyone likes their emblems," Mirajane commented with a smile. "I'll let Master Makarov know when he returns."

"Hey, Natsu!" Happy called as he floated over carrying a request from the job board.

"What's up, Happy?" Natsu asked as he sat down, looking at the flyer.

"This job looks easy to me. Five hundred thousand Jewel just to translate some old writing."

"Really? That's super easy! Now gimme! I need to get some money for Lucy."

Julia leaned over his shoulder as he began reading.

"Hmm… let's see… Ugo deru rasu uchi boro kania."

However, just before Natsu finished reading, Julia's eyes widened. "Natsu, wait! Don't –!"

Her words were interrupted as a bright, powerful flash of light shot from the poster, engulfing the entire area.

Macao groaned in irritation as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yeesh, my old eyes can't handle that. You guys alright?"

Ur sat nearby, shivering. "S – S – So… c – c – cold – d – d…"

Macao raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? Aren't you an ice mage? How can you be cold?"

Lucy groaned in frustration. "Man… why is it so hot…?"

Lisanna blinked, perplexed. "H – Huh?"

Julia frowned in bewilderment. "Why does Juvia feel so heavy?"

Juvia trembled lightly before groaning. "I feel… wet…"

Mirajane frowned in confusion and asked, "Sis, is it just me or is everyone acting a little weird?"

Lisanna nodded in agreement. "Yes, Lisa, everyone is."

Erza sat up suddenly and looked around in surprise. "I feel big!"

Happy turned and looked in completely confusion. "Something… is definitely not right here… At all…"

Natsu then began swinging his left arm wildly. "Gah! My arm! It's on fire!"

Bisca looked up, confused. "Why am I wearing a hat?"

Cana shivered slightly. "Why does it feel like I'm covered in bugs…?"

Elie groaned heavily. "I think I'm gunna die… Need… my ale… or… moonlight…"

Macao blinked, confused and slightly afraid. "What the hell's goin' on here?"

"Bugs!" Cana shouted once more. "I'm covered in bugs!"

Happy then stomped his tiny foot and shouted, "Alright, everyone! Knock it off with this nonsense!"

Juvia frowned in annoyance. "Why is this fur ball trying to order us around? Because if it doesn't stop," she paused as she grabbed a knife, "I'm skinning it."

"Juvia! Stop this!"

"What do you mean!?" Julia asked franticly. "Juvia is Juvia! She is…!" Julia trailed off as she looked at Juvia in disbelief. "Juvia…?"

"Shit," Juvia deadpanned.

Bisca glanced over at Natsu, who was weeping in pain, and tilted her head in bewilderment. "Why am I over there?"

"It hurts…" Natsu groaned.

"What hurts, me?" Bisca asked, still befuddled.

Natsu turned to Bisca, not understanding what he was seeing. "Wait… what the…?"

Lisanna and Mirajane also turned to each other mildly surprise. "Huh…"

Ur turned to Lucy and gaped. "What the heck's going on here!? Why am I standing over there?!"

Lucy started tugging at her collar lightly with a sigh. "No clue, but it's sweltering in here." She then began unzipping her blouse, gaining the attention of the men in the guildhall.

"No! Don't take that off!"

Juvia looked down as her clothes started melting off. "Uh-oh…"

Julia gaped, turning slightly red as well. "Put Juvia's clothes back on, now!"

"What clothes?"

The men began drooling.

Bisca twitched an eyebrow before readying one of her rifles. "Quit staring at them!"

Natsu continued flailing his arm. "Make it stop, make it stop!"

Mirajane responded by throwing a bucket of water on him.

With a sigh, Natsu noted, "That feels… a little better. Thanks, Mira."

Mirajane tilted her head in confusion. "Are you feeling alright, Natsu? It's me, Lisa… nna…" Mirajane trailed off as she glanced down.

"Natsu? It's me, Bisca. You sure you're not the one who's feelin' sick?"

Erza looked around happily. "Man, I feel great! So tall!" She then grabbed her chest with mild confusion. "And my chest feels so heavy! Hey Natsu look! I got boobs!"

"Yeah, I can see that, Erza," Bisca noted blandly.

"Erza? I'm Happy."

"I'm sure you are."

"EVERYONE QUIET!" Happy immediately bellowed.

"You're way too loud, cat," Juvia grumbled before stabbing the knife down in front of him.

"Listen! I believe we were tricked."

"What was your first clue, Erza?"

Natsu groaned heavily before asking, "Tricked?"

"Happy" nodded before explaining, "Yes. This job was actually a spell that somehow switched everybody's souls into different bodies."

"Juvia" nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. A veritable Gag Scroll. Remember that time during my thirteenth birthday?"

"Natsu" pointed at "Bisca". "He's the one you wanna talk to…"

"Juvia" huffed lightly. "I know, but I want to stare at his body, cowgirl wannabe."

"Bisca" nodded slowly. "Yeah, I remember. I still remember Let having nightmares for weeks. Why?"

"This whole thing doesn't remind you of that?"

"Bisca" remained silent for a moment before nodding. "Hhmm… yeah, you've got a point there. How do we fix it?"

"Backwards reading."

"Bisca" then turned to "Natsu" and said, "Hey, Bisca, read that job request backwards, it should fix things."

"Natsu" nodded and read the job request aloud, in reverse. "Kania boro uchi deru ugo."

The room was immediately filled with a bright light for several moments before dying down.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Bisca, however, glanced at her left arm in thought before looking at Natsu.

"That was a nightmare…" Lucy groaned.

Seconds later Makarov walked into the building with Levy and her team behind him.

"What's with all the ruckus?" Makarov asked.

Cana rubbed her head in discomfort. "A sober experience I don't want to experience EVER again."

"Ah…"

"Hey, Gramps!" Natsu suddenly exclaimed as he ran over to Makarov.

"Yes, Natsu?"

"Ever heard of someone named Musical?"

"I think he means Musica," Flare corrected.

Makarov rubbed his chin in thought for a moment. "Ah, yes. If I remember correctly, during the Symphonia Wars fifty years ago, there was a famous blacksmith named Musica. Though I've no clue where he is now or if he's still alive. Why?"

Natsu pulled out the broken Decaforce and showed it to him. "It broke on the last job, and I want the best there is to fix it. And Ulchan pointed out that Music guy is the best to fix Deca!"

Makarov blinked in confusion. "Ulchan?" Makarov asked before he sipped his coffee.

"My daughter, Ultear," Ur explained. "She's one of the Councilors. And Natsu is her boyfriend!"

Makarov immediately spit his drink out in shock. "WHAT!?"

Ur back up, surprised at his sudden exclamation. "H – Huh?"

"Do you even realize what kind of trouble that'll cause!?"

"Well…" Natsu interjected, "we're not actually dating. You see, Ul's mom is kinda dumb, and she –"

Ur interrupted him by slamming his head down on the table.

"You opened yourself for that one, Natsu," Lucy chided bluntly. After a moment of thought, she then turned to Makarov. "Hey, Master, Ms. Ul mentioned that Symphonia War too. What was it exactly?"

Makarov sighed heavily. "A long and bloody war. Fifty years ago, on one of the eastern continents, the nations of Symphonia and Raregroove engaged in a bloody war that raged for several years. It isn't really known what caused the war, but what is known is that the Raregroove Kingdom used a powerful dark magic called Dark Bring. However, with the help of a weapon called Rave, Symphonia defeated Raregroove. But an event called Overdrive occurred as soon as the war ended, causing great desolation to both nations and surrounding their desolated land in a nearly impassable storm."

"Whoa…" Gray mumbled in surprise.

"Now that you mention it," Lucy muttered in thought, "I remember hearing a story like that once."

Ur nodded in agreement. "Yeah, same here."

Natsu growled in annoyance. "Gah! This just makes my head hurt! Let's get goin' to Yamato so this Musica guy can fix my sword! And the sooner the better so I can use its exploding blade form again!"

Makarov furrowed his brow in thought. "Exploding blade?"

"Yeah!" Natsu pulled out the small stone he had put into Decaforce's blade and showed it to Makarov. "When I put this in it, it transformed."

"Ooh, ooh, can I come!?" Elie asked excitedly.

"Huh? Yeah, sure."

"Yahoo!"

Bisca put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you're not going anywhere without me. Last time I let you go somewhere on your own you blew up a casino."

"But there was a bug in there!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "A bug?"

Bisca shrugged in confusion. "Don't ask me."

"Does she just think everything is a bug?"

Almost everyone in the guildhall answered in unison, "Yep."

"I do not…" Elie argued weakly with a pout.

Bisca smirked playfully. "Remember the first time you had pasta?"

"Okay, let's test it," Lucy suggested with a smile before pulling out one of her keys. "Open, Gate of the Canis Minor: Nikola!"

In a burst of smoke, a small, white, humanoid creature with black eyes and an orange, drill-shaped nose appeared.

Elie crouched down in front of the creature and questioned, "Is it some kind of bug?"

"No," Lucy argued. "It's a dog."

"A dog!?" Natsu questioned in disbelief.

"Puun, puun!" the little creature huffed excitedly before running and jumping atop Natsu's head.

Natsu glanced up at it in thought. "Eh?"

Lucy laughed lightly. "I think he likes you. His name is Plue."

"Plue…" Natsu and Elie mumbled in thought.

Natsu picked Plue up off his head and then stated with a smile, "I like Shabutaro better."

Lucy punched him on the head, causing him to face plant. "His name is Plue!"

"What'd you do that for!?" Natsu snarled as he stood up.

"Because you're an idiot!"

However, Plue then suddenly leapt up, grabbed his key from Lucy, and proceeded to swallow it.

Everyone stood in utter confused silence for several moments.

"Gah! Why'd you do that!?" Lucy shouted in frantic anger.

"Puun, puun," the white creature hummed as it sat by Natsu.

Gray blinked in thought before turning to Natsu. "Oh, right. Natsu, gimme back my necklace."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? What for?"

"Because it's mine."

"But it goes with my sword."

"Like I give a crap. Give it!"

"No. It makes my sword more badass! Besides, Jegan tried to kill you for it! And he was part of something called Demon Bard."

Makarov spit his drink in shock. "What'd you say!?"

Natsu blinked and turned to the old man in confusion. "Demon Bard."

Makarov gulped in worry. "Do you mean… Demon Card…?"

"Maybe…"

Makarov tightened his fingers around his cup. "This isn't good…"

"Why, Master?" Mirajane asked.

"Demon Card is part of the Barram Alliance. And more than likely the strongest Dark Guild."

Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "The Barram Alliance?"

Mirajane nodded and explained, "It's an alliance of four Dark Guilds that rule over and command almost all of the others. It's made up of Oracion Seis, Tartaros, Grimoire Heart, and Demon Card."

Lisanna narrowed her eyes. "All of which make guilds like Eisenwald look like ants."

Lucy gulped in fear. "Oh great…"

Julia smirked as she grabbed a large barrel. "Fighting them sounds like fun if you ask me."

"Eehh!?"

Cana looked around in confusion. "Hey… where's my ale?" She then turned and saw Julia chugging down the drink in the barrel. "Hey! That's mine!" she shouted with a glare.

"Pah!" Julia sighed with relief as she set the empty barrel down, smashing it. "Give me another!"

Growling, Cana shouted, "Give me two!"

Julia huffed in amusement. "Make that three for me!"

"Yeah right! No one beats me! Not in drinking or bed!"

Julia grinned in amusement. "Oh yeah? You can't beat a dragon like me tiny!"

"Wanna bet!?"

* * *

"W – Wow…" Bisca muttered in disbelief as she and the others watched Julia and Cana's drinking contest.

"Eight barrels each and they're still going…" Lucy maundered in unbelief.

Natsu cried waterfall tears. "Cana's gonna make me sore tonight…"

Macao spit his drink. "I thought that was just a rumor!"

Mirajane turned to him in confusion. "Thought what was a rumor?"

"That Natsu and Cana fought."

Mirajane tilted her head in befuddlement. "Who said they fought?"

"It was a rumor going around," Wakaba added.

Laki sighed. "Old people sure are stupid."

Flare nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"

Elie tilted her head in confusion. "Wait, does that mean Natsu and Cana had sex?"

All of the men in the guild turned to Natsu annoyed.

Juvia pouted. "Juvia still wishes she was Natsusama's first." With a frown at Mirajane she added, "But Demon Bitch got it first…"

The men's annoyance turned to a deep scowl.

Mirajane turned to Juvia with a smile. "Don't worry, Erza's the first one to show him S&M. Even though I wanted to do that."

"NA-TSU!" all of the men shouted in unified rage.

Natsu turned to them, confused. "What? What I do?"

Elfman stood up with a growl. "I'm gonna kill you for defiling my sister!"

"I'm gunna kill you 'cus I want to!" Macao added.

However, all of the men's rage melted away as the room was filled with an intense sense of dread as Julia turned to Mira and cracked her knuckles.

"So you took his first, eh…?" Julia asked angrily.

Mirajane returned Julia's scowl with an overly sweet smile. "I was. What of it?"

Julia twitched an eyebrow. "I was meant to be his first bitch!"

Mirajane's smile widened. "Guess you missed your chance."

Julia growled before lunging at Mirajane, getting a howl of excitement from the men.

"Julia!" Natsu interjected. "Dont kill Mira!"

"I'm just gonna teach her a lesson!" Julia argued. "That I'M the Alpha Female here!"

Sherry frowned slightly as the men cheered before turning to Natsu. "The others seem to be enjoying this."

Natsu hissed. "Stop fighting right now!"

Julia and Mirajane stopped almost instantly before sighing and turning to him, eliciting a sigh of disappointment from the guys.

"Good."

* * *

Sherry looked at Natsu for several moments before sighing heavily.

"Sherry?" Mirajane called out as she walked up to her. "Something wrong?"

"H – Huh?" Sherry flinched as she turned to Mirajane. "U – Uh, oh, nothing…"

Mirajane smiled warmly. "Now, now, you can't lie to me."

"Oh. Sorry…"

Mirajane shook her head with a smile. "You don't need to apologize. Just tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help. And if I can't I can probably find someone who can."

With a sigh, Sherry replied, "Maybe… How can I get my Love to love me?"

"The simplest answer would be to simply tell him how you feel."

"I've already done that. Many times."

"Are you sure? If Natsu actually knew how you felt, I'm sure he'd love you back. Why don't you try telling him now? I can call him over here."

"Maybe…"

Mirajane merely smiled warmly again. "I suppose we can try it later. Why don't we get you set up in the dorms?"

Sherry blinked in confusion.

Mirajane tilted her head slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"There are dorms?"

Mirajane nodded in reply. "Fairy Hills. Erza, Cana, Laki, myself, and several of the other girls live in them."

"Wow."

"They are quite comfortable accommodations," Erza noted as she approached the two. "And you are also permitted to decorate the rooms in any way you please."

Sherry grinned wistfully. "A room dedicated to my love…"

Erza sighed heavily. "Unfortunately he is not allowed on the property."

Mirajane sighed happily. "What a night…" She giggled with a light blush.

Sherry frowned slightly as she put a hand over her abdomen.

* * *

Natsu turned to Julia as they sat at one of the guild's long tables and asked, "Will you be going to Fairy Hills?"

Julia raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why would I stay with a bunch of humans?" Her eyes suddenly widened. "W – Wait, d – don't tell me you don't want me living with you!"

Natsu waved a hand dismissively. "Don't be dumb. It's just where the others are, so I thought you'd want to be with them." He then turned to her with a smile. "I don't mind you staying with me."

"Really?"

"Of course!" Natsu replied happily with a grin.

Julia smiled widely and pulled him into a tight, bone-crushing hug.

"… Can't… breathe…"

* * *

Sherry sighed as she sat at a table, tapping her finger in thought. "Hhmm…"

"What'cha doin'?" Natsu asked, standing right behind her.

"Uwah!" Sherry shrieked in surprise, nearly jumping out of her seat.

"What was that about?" Natsu asked in mild bewilderment.

"Nothing my love!"

Natsu blinked curiously before tilting his head in thought. "My… love…? What?"

Sherry sat silently for a moment before gulping. ' _Okay… I have to do it… It's now or never!_ ' "Natsu, I love you!"

Sherry's sudden yell attracted the attention of the other members of the guild, many of them turning to investigate the shout.

Natsu blinked in confusion.

' _Oh no…_ ' Sherry said in her head as she turned bright red with shame. ' _I sounded like a freak… He probably hates me!_ ' Not waiting to hear Natsu's response, Sherry pushed past him and ran out of the building.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Uuhh… why'd she run?"

Plue then tugged on Natsu's pantleg, pointing with his stubby arm at the door. "Puun, puun."

Natsu blinked in thought. "Uh… okay." With that, he followed the white puff ball out the door.

* * *

Sherry sat on a bench somewhere in Magnolia, she knew not where as she simply ran after exiting the building, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. "Why did I do that…? He hates me now… I'm sure of it…" Sherry sniffled before wiping some of her tears away. "I shouldn't have taken that woman's advice…"

"Oh?" a playful voice asked. "Do you really think he hates you?"

Sherry stiffened immediately. "Wh – Who…?"

"Tell me, do you really believe he hates you, or do you simply _want_ him to?"

"Wh – What are you talking about…?"

"Wouldn't it be easier? Just stay in the sidelines, loving and watching him from afar. Not having to worry about getting rejected by him. And not needing to worry about living up to his expectations."

Sherry trembled at the words.

"You can stay in the safety of your one-sided love, never learning if he _does_ love you, but never needing to handle the rejection."

Sherry's trembles increased.

"And besides, even if you do make it clear, what'll happen if he rejects you? You'll be _all alone_."

"Shut up…" Sherry argued in a weak voice.

"And why should I? It's the truth."

"I said shut up! You don't know anything!" Sherry argued, her voice breaking with desperation.

"Then tell him. Tell him clearly. If I'm so wrong, then you can do it."

"You are and I will!" Sherry argued defiantly. "And you'll –!" she shouted but then stopped as she turned to see who was talking to her, only to see no one there. "What the…?"

"Sherry!" Natsu shouted off in the distance as he walked through Magnolia to find her. "Where are you?!"

Sherry immediately ducked behind a wall as he approached. ' _Oh no, he's coming!_ '

Natsu looked around franticly. "Where is she…? I hope she's okay…"

' _He's… worried about me…?_ ' The words of the voice she spoke to then filled her mind.

* * *

 _"Then tell him. Tell him clearly. If I'm so wrong, then you can do it."_

* * *

' _I…_ ' Sherry trailed in her own thoughts. ' _I need to tell him… I need to do it… I will do it!_ ' She then immediately stepped out of her hiding spot to speak to Natsu. "Natsu! I –!"

Her words were interrupted as Natsu, with a wide, relieved smile, wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Sherry! I was so worried about you…"

Sherry's eyes widened in surprise. "R – Really…?"

Natsu nodded, still holding her tightly. "Of course."

Sherry remained silent for several moments before gulping. "N – Natsu…"

Natsu pulled away from the hug and looked at her, puzzled. "Yeah, Sherry?"

"I… I… I – I love you…" Sherry said with a tight throat.

Natsu blinked and then smiled warmly. "I know."

Sherry flinched and looked at him surprise. "Y – You're not… mad?"

Natsu frowned in confusion. "Why would I be mad?" With a grin, he added, "Of course I'd be happy! You're beautiful, after all!"

Sherry's face turned bright red. "H – Huh?!"

"What?"

"Y – You think I – I'm…"

"Of course you are!"

Sherry's face reddened further, practically glowing.

"And if you still don't believe me, I'll prove it."

Sherry blinked, perplexed. "H – Hu –?" she started, only to be silenced as Natsu pressed his lips against hers, causing her eyes to widen before she accepted the kiss, pressing her lips further against his.

After a moment, Natsu pulled back with a smile. "Believe me now?"

Sherry nodded slowly before leaning up to him and kissing him once more. "Let's go… to my room… my love…"

Natsu frowned slightly. "I'm not allowed in Fairy Hills though."

Sherry chuckled lightly. "My room has a window. Use it."

* * *

 **LEMON BEGINS HERE**

Sherry swiftly returned to her room in Fairy Hills, changing from her normal garb, wearing a knee-length, transparent, pink negligée that hid little of her curvaceous body from view, her dark pink hair left loose, flowing down her back to her round bottom, curling and waving as it fell, her forehead slightly covered by loose bangs.

"You look beautiful," Natsu said with a smile as he stepped through the window into Sherry's room under the cover moonlight, surprising her.

"I've been waiting for you, Natsu," Sherry called warmly as she reached her arms out to him.

Natsu walked forward into her grasp, wrapping his arms around her tightly as their lips locked. He wasted no time reaching out with his tongue, finding her own greedily awaiting him as they entwined, danced, and swirled around each other, fully indulging and memorizing the flavor of the other's.

Sherry moaned quietly as Natsu slipped a hand under her clothing deftly and gripped her supple orb tightly, his fingers disappearing into the warmth of its softness.

Natsu felt her moan on his tongue as it explored the inside of her mouth, pressing, brushing, and stroking across every centimeter of it, greedily drinking in her taste.

Sherry trembled as his fingers dug, twisted and pulled at her bosom, kneading it tightly as his other hand cupped her bottom firmly before shifting her to the bed.

Pulling away, he gazed into her eyes and asked, "Are you ready?"

Sherry smiled as she rubbed a hand against his trousers, his stiff member stretching the fabric. "I don't have much of a choice." Pulling up the skirt to her negligee, she exposed her mound, dripping with arousal, "My body wants it. I want you."

He nodded, removing his clothes swiftly before quickly pulling the thin fabric from her body, exposing all of her bright skin to his eyes, its texture shining as the light from the moon above glistened off her body.

Sherry glanced down, her blue eyes widening as she saw his staff in full view, its length surprising her as he moved it towards her soaked mound.

"Here I go," he announced quietly as he pressed the head against Sherry's entrance, slipping slightly from the slick coating of aroused fluids that covered her before pressing stronger, spreading her folds as his length began to fill her.

Sherry winced lightly as his shaft began spreading her walls to their limits, more and more the deeper he pushed before she felt him hit a blockage, her maidenhead. Sherry merely gazed into his eyes and nodded before he gave one strong push, forcing past the thin membrane, garnering a hiss of pain from her while she tightened around his body and trembled as blood slowly trickled out from between them. Biting her lip lightly to prevent too loud a sound from escaping her mouth, Sherry sighed before smiling up at him, her eyes clouded lightly. "I'm fine. Go ahead."

With a nod he forged deeper within her channel, stopping momentarily before pulling and pushing forward, his motions starting off slowly, but hastening swiftly as he felt her wrap tighter around him as he swayed faster and faster.

Each thrust was punctuated by a light gasp from Sherry, her bust bouncing and swaying in tune with his motions. Her gasps turned to moans as he grabbed one of her swaying orbs.

"It's almost like they're begging me to play with them, bouncing like that," he teased with a smirk.

"Th – That's only – ah!" Sherry tried to argue, gasping as the combination of his kneading and his thrusting sent shocks of pleasure through her body, "only because… you're moving so much…"

"Is that so?" he asked with a smirk before reaching between her legs. "Then I wonder what'll happen if I touch here…" With two fingers he grabbed the nub just above her entrance and pinched, causing her to release a loud moan filled with ecstasy as she arched her back, intertwining pain and pleasure shooting through her body like bolts of electricity. "You can't make that much noise," he noted before pressing his lips deeply against hers as his motions continued, increasing in speed and ferocity, their mixing fluids being thrown about by his movements.

Sherry's moans flowed into his mouth as their kiss persisted, their tongues dancing and twisting around each other, both attempting to push past the other, vying for entry into the other's body to explore.

His movements became even more forceful as he pushed deeper and deeper within her, soon reaching her back wall, seemingly having nowhere left to go with still a significant portion of his length exposed.

Sherry gasped into his breaths as he added more force to each thrust, pushing her inner wall harder and harder as he did, her body trembling with each thrust as his tongue fondled and wrapped around hers and his hand kneaded and squeezed her breast, his thumb occasionally flicking the stiffened peak.

He pulled away from her mouth, moving to her unattended orb, wrapping his lips around it, sucking tightly.

"M – My body…" Sherry moaned as her face reddened with ecstasy, her eyes cloudy with pleasure, "it's so hot… it feels like… I'm going to explode…"

And with one final push, his member forged through her inner wall, entering her womb, burying itself fully within her body and forming a small bump on her abdomen.

That proved more than Sherry could handle, all of the combined sensations with the sudden insertion pushing her past her limits. She belted out a loud howl of pleasure, her walls wrapping tightly around his shaft as her fluids burst from her body, her back arching even deeper as her eyes fell back, her tongue falling loosely as her mind fell blank. "I… I can't take it… it's too much…"

And yet, his movements continued, thrusting back and forth, stirring her insides with his motions, squeezing and kneading her breast with his hand.

"Y – Yesh…" Sherry moaned weakly as she felt his pounding motions send pulses of pure ecstasy through her body. "P – Pound my pushy… make me yoursh… my love! Forshe your shape into me!"

He growled lightly as he felt her tighten around him further, his speed increasing immensely, the only sounds audible in the room being their fluids mixing, their skin smacking against each other, and Sherry's loud huffs and moans.

Sherry's eyes then immediately widened as she felt his shaft thicken. "Y – Yesh…! Here it comesh!" And almost immediately he gave one last thrust, forcing himself inside, up to the base, before bursting within her, his thick seed filling her womb with warmth, her abdomen swelling slightly as he filled her with more and more. After a moment, he leaned down, pressed his lips against her shoulder, and then bit down. Sherry trembled from the dual sensations before crying out loudly as the feelings filled her body.

Sighing in exhaustion, Natsu pulled himself from her cavity, watching as her chest slowly swayed up and down with her unconscious breaths. He smiled lightly but then paled when he heard voices approaching the door. "Oh crap!" Quickly grabbing his clothes, he leapt out of Sherry's window as the door to her room swung open.

 **LEMON ENDS HERE**

* * *

A girl with long, knee-length pink hair wearing a long white dress stood on a rooftop, watching Sherry and Natsu's joining as a young man with pale skin, crimson eyes, and shoulder-length silver hair wearing a light blue shirt, black pants, geta sandals, and an ankle-length black haori with a raining, green matrix code design on it draped over his shoulders walked up to her.

"Well aren't you nice, Pandora?" the man asked with a wry smile.

"Nice?" Pandora huffed back. "You must be drunk, Naoya."

"Come now, you expect me to believe you didn't know this would happen?"

Pandora twitched an eyebrow.

"Your antagonizing of that human had no other result but this."

She waved a hand in annoyance. "Yeah, yeah. What are you doing here anyway, you maniac?"

"Can't I just drop by and see my friend?"

Pandora turned to Naoya, confused and surprised. "You have friends? Last I checked, everyone hated you."

Naoya hung his head in dismay. "Even you Panny…?"

"Humph. I don't like anyone."

Naoya's frown turned into a wide, playful grin. "Oh we both know _that's_ a lie."

Pandora puffed her cheeks with a light tint. "Shut it. And tell me why you're here."

"Okay, okay, Panny. Just here to tell you your dear li'l demon-dragon will be going to Yamato soon, and events there are about to kick off."

Pandora sighed heavily. "So he'll meet the Adventurers." She then narrowed her eyes. "This is about to get irritating." After a moment of thought, she then turned to Naoya. "You had something to do with it breaking, didn't you?"

"My brother, actually," Naoya answered with a shrug.

Pandora's eyes narrowed further. "You probably let it happen knowing the chaos Natsu meeting _them_ would bring. Let alone _his_ return would get delayed."

"Well if he shows up, all my fun will come to an end. And right now your boy toy isn't strong enough to handle Chronos' greatest mistake. So letting the blade snap was a good way to get him there."

Pandora hissed in frustration.

"And besides that, until she rekindles the light, they won't stand a chance."

"And who's fault is that?" Pandora challenged.

"Yours. You just had to get payback at her for breaking your man's heart when she 'died'."

Pandora stiffened. "… Sh – Shut up…"

Naoya's smile widened. "I mean, what better way to get back at her than to shatter her mind. You _did_ do quite a number on her. I wonder if she'll ever truly recover. Right, Pandora?"

Pandora trembled before a tic mark burst on her forehead. She turned to him and shouted, "Shutupshutupshutup! You big, stupid, robo, octopus lizard!"

Naoya's smile increased to a grin. "Better hope she doesn't regain _that_ memory by the way. Just _think_ how your reunion would go if she told him."

Pandora paled in abject horror.

"Anyway, see you later, Panny! Hop you have a happy life." He grinned maliciously. "Oh who am I kidding? You're pretty much screwed."

* * *

The next day, Sherry, now wearing her hair down her back along with a new outfit, a low-cut, knee-length, pink dress with black, diamond-shaped trimmings, spaghetti-straps holding it up, exposing an intricate, red marking on her left shoulder, and black sandals, walked into the Fairy Tail guildhall with a slight limp and a bright smile.

Mirajane blinked curiously before smiling widely as Sherry sat at the bar, wincing slightly. "You look happy."

"I feel amazing," Sherry answered with her smile still in place.

"The first time always is. And after a while the pain will go away. It always does, then all you feel is the pleasure."

Lucy waved as she walked up to the duo before seeing Sherry's outfit, flinching back slightly in surprise. "Wh – Whoa… that's a bold outfit…"

Sherry turned to her in thought. "Oh? Well my Love likes it."

"Mornin'!" Natsu greeted with a wave.

"Morning my Love!" Sherry greeted as she hugged Natsu's arm tightly.

"You feeling okay?" Natsu asked with mild concern.

Sherry nodded in return. "Yes, I am. Just a little bit sore, my Love."

"Good. Cana couldn't walk for a while."

Sherry smirked with pride.

"Juvia barely felt anything painful after her first with Natsusama," Juvia interjected.

"That's because you were unconscious for a whole day," Natsu chided.

Juvia flinched slightly. "H – Huh? Juvia was…?"

"Yes," Erza answered as she approached the others.

"Nnnooo! Juvia is a disgrace to dragons!"

Julia patted her back lightly. "Come on, if he didn't make you pass out it means he didn't go all-out."

Erza chuckled lightly before turning to Natsu. "Natsu, when do you intend to leave for Yamato?"

"As soon as I can," Natsu answered succinctly.

"Then I shall leave with you."

"Uh, okay."

"We will need to leave by boat, since Yamato is so distant from the mainland."

Natsu paled and gulped. "… Can't I at least ride Ophi…?"

"No. It is your punishment for breaking the rules."

Natsu furrowed his brow in thought. "You're still mad about what we did last week, aren't you?"

Erza stiffened and sputtered slightly. "N – No… of course not…"

"What happened last week?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Nothing," Erza answered sharply.

"But I –" Natsu began, only for Erza to interrupt him.

"Nothing. Happened."

"You're screaming said otherwise," Mirajane intruded with a playful grin.

"… I don't think I want to know…" Lucy added weakly.

"Why not?"

"It sounds… creepy."

* * *

Ur sighed as she sat at one of the many long tables in Fairy Tail's guildhall. "When will Ul pay me a visit…?" she asked somberly before taking a swig of mead. "Mama needs her daughter's love…"

"Ur?" Natsu asked as he walked up to her. "What's wrong?"

"My daughter ain't here to visit me and you…" she answered with a pout.

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Me? Why'd she visit me?"

"You're her boyfriend. Why wouldn't she?"

Natsu laughed weakly before mumbling, "Still goin' with that, ey…?"

"Well you both are."

Natsu blinked in bewilderment. "What?"

"Lovers! You make a great couple!"

Natsu sniffed the air momentarily. "You're hammered."

Ur puffed her cheeks obstinately. "Am not!" After a moment she blinked in thought. "Hey… I know… since you're her boyfriend, why don't you bring Ur here to see me?"

A bead of sweat fell down Natsu's cheek in exacerbation. "Don't you mean Ul? You're Ur."

"That's what I said."

Natsu sighed in exasperation as the doors suddenly swung open.

"Everyone!" Makarov shouted franticly. "Clean up the guildhall, now!"

"Huh?" Loke asked, perplexed. "Why?"

"There's a Councilor coming!"

Ur huffed and took a swig of her mead.

"I'm already here, Guildmaster," Ultear noted as she walked up behind Makarov.

Makarov stiffened in fear.

"Ulchan!" Ur shouted happily before springing from her seat. "Mama missed you!"

Ultear raised a clipboard in front of her as Ur ran to hug her daughter, only to smack headfirst into it.

"Wow…" Lucy mumbled.

"While I'd love to stay and chat, Mother," Ultear noted as her mother sat on the floor rubbing her nose in pain, "I'm here on official business."

"Nnnooo!" Ur bellowed in horror. "My daughter is a delinquent! Having a Council job and taking it seriously! Where did I go wrong?!"

* * *

 **And there you have it folks, the conclusion to the eighth chapter of Embodiment of Flame. Hopefully everyone, or at least most of you, enjoyed the chapter. Please do be sure to let me know if you did with a review. Also do not forget to post a review if you are unsure or confused about anything, as I will do my best to address your concerns in a reviewer response. If you did not enjoy the story, however, my best suggestion would be to find something else you do enjoy and do that instead, but if you do feel the compulsion to post a review, constructive criticism would be appreciated. So until next time, buh-bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX**

 **Hello all, it is time for yet another chapter of Embodiment of Flame. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, and you all hopefully enjoy this chapter. Be sure to post a review if you do. As per usual I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with the story past, present, and future. So, shall we move on to the reviewer responses?**

 **Jalis: I'm glad to hear that. Cool, I was worried that maybe some sections of the body switch might get a little too absurd, glad you enjoyed it. Yes. To each other at least. Well... no, he's not. At this point? Seventeen. And that's just at this point in the story, it'll be growing later. Pandora is from Campione and Naoya, at least his appearance, is from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. Grimoire Heart was supposed to be the strongest, but the anime made it evident Tartaros was the strongest. And Demon Card is the strongest at least in sheer size. If you've read anything of Rave you'd know they span several continents.**

 **Ilikebedtimestories: Good to hear!**

 **gwb620: I think, or at least presume, most people do.**

 **hornofdesolation: Thank you. As mentioned above, Pandora isn't an OC. She's from the anime Campione, and is the same as her mythological fiction. Mostly.**

 **Well that appears to be it for reviewer responses. Quite a few this time, which is always a pleasure. Keep them coming, people! I love it when people tell me their opinions of my stories, not so much when those opinions are negative but I can, normally, take it if there is a point. Moving on, enough about me, you people are here for the story.**

* * *

"Nnnooo!" Ur bellowed in horror. "My daughter is a delinquent! Having a Council job and taking it seriously! Where did I go wrong?!"

Ultear snarled in annoyance. "How is that a bad thing?!"

"It's a horrid thing! Council's are horrendous things!"

"A – Ahem," Makarov interrupted with a cough, "so, Madam Councilor, why are you here?"

"First," Ultear started with irritation before grabbing Makarov's ear tightly, "don't call me madam. Second, I'm here to make a report."

Makarov gulped in terror as he rubbed his ear. "R – Report…?" The Council's reports never led to anything positive, something Makarov knew by heart.

"Yes. The other Councilors wanted a report done on the Galuna Island incident."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "But you were th –" he began only for Ultear to slap a hand over his mouth.

Ur then suddenly exclaimed drunkenly, "Lick your girlfriend's hand, Natsu!"

Almost immediately Ultear shivered violently before curling her hand into a fist and slamming it down atop Natsu's head.

Ur gasped in shock. "Ul! You don't hit your boyfriend like that! You use a whip!"

Ultear gained a tic mark on her forehead as she raised her clipboard, leading almost immediately to Ur lying on the floor with a smoking welt on her head.

"Look at the pretty Ul shaped stars…" Ur muttered deliriously.

Ultear groaned heavily in frustration. "Let's just do the report…"

"Very well then," Erza agreed with a nod.

* * *

Sometime later, after interviewing the others involved with the incident in a closed-off room away from the rest of the guild, Ultear stepped out and called, "Okay, one last interview. Natsu Dragneel."

Natsu followed Ultear into the room and the interview, which Natsu found to be surprisingly simple, was completed rather swiftly. It was what followed that surprised him.

* * *

"Okay, now the main reason I came here," Ultear noted as she closed a book in her hands.

Natsu blinked curiously. "Huh? Is it another package for Meldy?"

Ultear nodded in reply. "Exactly."

"Cool. I get to see how your friend is doing."

"Friend… right." After a moment she handed Natsu a small box. "Same place as before."

"Got it," Natsu answered before furrowing his brow in thought. "Does she have a sweet tooth?"

Ultear blinked in confusion and surprise, not expecting such a question. "Come again?"

"Meldy. Does she like sweets?"

Ultear's confused expression persisted. "I… think… Why?"

"So I can get her a treat when I go deliver this."

"I see… That's fine, I suppose." After a moment of thought, Ultear added, "Actually, yes, do that."

"Got it!" Natsu replied with a wide grin. "Now… what to get her…?"

"Try something with strawberries or a confectionary."

Natsu nodded appreciatively. "Thanks. I'll get her a strawberry cheesecake then. Erza always likes them."

* * *

Meldy sighed as she leaned against a tree, waiting silently. She immediately jumped in surprise, with a slight yelp, as Natsu landed nearby from the trees above.

Natsu blinked curiously and then smiled. "That was kind of a cute reaction."

Meldy blinked curiously before frowning. "Don't call me that."

"Huh?" Natsu asked, confused. "Why?"

"I am not 'cute'. I am a weapon?"

Natsu tilted his head curiously. "Weapon? You look like a cute girl to me."

Meldy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, her face reddening slightly. "Just give me the package."

Natsu nodded and handed the small box to her. "Here. Also," he began before handing another, slightly larger box, to her, "I got you something."

Meldy looked at the box, a bright, red and white strawberry cheesecake inside, with great confusion, suspicion, and surprise. "… What is it?"

"Something I hope you like."

"I see…" Meldy answered slowly, uncertain how to respond. After several silent moments of thought, she answered unsurely, "Thank… you…"

Natsu grinned happily. "Cool! Well, hope ya enjoy it!"

"Right…" she answered slowly as he leapt away before looking down at the box and frowned. ' _Why…? Why would he get me this…?_ '

* * *

Natsu sighed lightly as he walked back into the guildhall and noticed Ur and Ultear sitting at a table, just the two of them, separated from the other members. "Huh?" he muttered in thought before walking towards them.

"So…" Ur began slowly, tightening her hands around her mug slightly, "you really were alive all this time… I… I just can't believe it…" With a mirthless laugh, Ur added, "Wow… I'm such a horrible mother…"

"The blame isn't solely yours," Ultear argued.

Ur looked up at her, surprised.

"After you took me to those people, they… they told me you abandoned me there."

Ur stiffened in terror. "H – Huh…?"

"Though, before that, I have to know. Why? Why didn't you come back…? Just look, just check?"

Ur slumped and sighed heavily, regret and self-loathing coating her breath. "I… They told me you had died. That the medical procedure had failed and your magic… that it destroyed your body completely…"

Ultear remained silent, awed to hear such words.

Natsu stood some meters away, just listening to their conversation.

Ur's grip on her mug tightened to the point her knuckles whitened. "I am so sorry… I was just so distraught… So caught up in my own suffering that I couldn't think straight. You were my daughter, my only daughter… My pride and joy… To hear you had died because of the amount of mana you had inherited from me… It drove me to a dark place…"

Ultear sat silently, processing the words. "I… Well, as you can see, that was a lie." Another moment of silence passed before she continued, "They conducted… experiments on me."

Ur's eyes widened with horror.

"They did everything they could to test the limits of my mana…" tightening her fists with pain and anger, she added, "and of my body."

Ur tightened her body, unsure whether to reach out to her daughter or leave her be. "N – No… My poor baby…"

Ultear sighed and continued, "Eventually I managed to get out of that place. The first thing I did was attempt to find you. I spent a long time looking for you… But when I did find you… _They_ were with you…"

Ur's gaze lowered with somberness and guilt. "Why didn't you come towards me then…?"

"I felt… jealous. I thought you'd replaced me with them… You looked so happy despite what I had gone through… I simply became angry… I wandered on my own for a long time and eventually found my way into the Council."

"So… that's how you joined them…"

"I was sent to observe the Galuna Island group when you were revived. And I… didn't know what to do, seeing you there. Unchanged from ten years ago."

"Well… why don't we try starting from the beginning?"

"I guess… that'd be a good place to start…"

Natsu, standing nearby with a wide grin, added, "I think that's a great idea!"

The two women flinched in surprise, not expecting to see the pink-haired teen standing nearby.

"H – Huh, Natsu?" Ultear asked in surprise and confusion.

Natsu waved weakly. "Sorry, I couldn't help listening."

"Oh…"

"You are her boyfriend," Ur started, "so you should probably learn this stuff too."

Ultear twitched an eyebrow. "He. Is. Not. My. Boyfriend."

"But –" Ur began, only for her daughter to interrupt.

"No!"

"… Aaww…"

Natsu then blinked in thought. "Oh, hey, Ulchan, can I ask you about something?"

Ultear turned to him with a sigh and nodded. "What about?"

"It's about Meldy."

Ur immediately sat up and blinked. "Meldy?" With a gasp, she added, "You made me a grandma!?"

Ultear, her face bright red, argued vehemently, "NO!"

"I can't believe it!" Ur cheered, ignoring her daughter's objections. "I'm a grandma! Ooohhh, you have to show me her!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and put his hand up to about Meldy's height. "She's about yay tall, has pink hair, and green eyes."

"… Not your daughter, huh?"

"I've never mated with Ultear."

Ur sat silently, disappointed.

"I adopted her," Ultear explained.

"Ooohhh," Ur responded in supposed realization. "So, you two haven't done it but you adopted a kid. Where's the fun in that?"

Ultear groaned. " _I_ adopted her."

"Oh…" Ur muttered in disappointment.

Natsu turned to Ultear and questioned, "Think she finally gets it?"

"I can only hope…" Ultear replied with a heavy sigh.

"So…" Ur began in consternation, "she's your and Natsu's adopted daughter.

Ultear face-palmed heavily.

* * *

After Ultear left the guildhall to submit her report, Erza gathered the group that would be traveling to Yamato.

Looking at the group, Erza remarked, "So, myself, Natsu, Elie, Bisca, Lucy, Julia, and Gray will be going on this trip?"

Natsu huffed and turned to Gray. "Why are you going, ice-brain?"

"Simple," Gray started with mild irritation. "I just wanna get away from Ur for a bit. She's been asking me a thousand questions about every little thing I've been doing for the past ten years."

"I think it's just because she cares about you," Lucy noted.

"Tch, well it's annoying. Plus… I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this. So this will help."

"Tch," Natsu hissed. "Stupid jerk."

"What was that…? You wanna go pointy?!" Gray challenged with a growl.

"Pointy?!"

Before the squabble could escalate, Erza grabbed both of their heads and slammed them together. "Enough!"

"Oi!" Julia growled. "Don't smash Natsu's head, Red!"

Erza merely ignored her demand. "Let us go. We will first head to Hargeon, and from there to Yamato's port city of Hip-Hop Town."

* * *

As the group made their way to their destination by boat, Natsu leaned over the side of the boat, green with illness and groaning heavily.

Julia stood beside him rubbing his back softly.

"Man…" Gray groaned, "it's hot here…"

"Don't even think it!" Lucy warned.

"Oh come on…"

As Julia rubbed Natsu's back, she noticed Flare standing nearby and swiped a flask from her waist, greatly irritating the redhead, before handing it towards Natsu. "Want a drink, Natsu?"

"Gimme!" Natsu exclaimed before taking the flask and gulping the contents greedily. "Pah! Ah! Much better!"

Gray noticed a jug of water hanging off of Natsu's rucksack and grabbed it. "Need… water…" He opened the jug and prepared to gulp the contents down, only for a loud shriek to emit from the water before it physically jumped from the jug. "Gah!"

The water from the jug landed and became Juvia, screaming fearfully. "No! Juvia doesn't want to get swallowed!" However, after a moment of standing she turned slightly green and ran to the edge of the boat.

Natsu handed her the flask, Juvia taking several large gulps.

"Ah… Thank you, Natsusama."

"Ahem!" Julia interrupted.

"Huh?" Juvia mumbled, turning to her.

"What are you doing here?"

Juvia grabbed Natsu's arm and argued, "Juvia couldn't stand being away from Natsu-Sama again."

Julia twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, not understanding the issue.

"I'm gulping her down," Julia snarled aggressively, causing the pale-skinned bluenette to shriek before Julia reached out to grab her.

"No!" Natsu argued, stepping between them.

"Why?!" Julia asked, confused and angry.

"She's my mate, that's why!"

Julia trembled lightly as she tightened her fists.

"Uh-oh…" Lucy muttered, "this doesn't look good…"

Julia's eyes began to well with tears as she trembled furiously.

"J – Julia…?"

"W – Was my love really n – not enough for you?" Julia asked desperately.

However, before Julia could speak another word, Erza whacked her on the back of the head.

"What was that for, Red?!"

Erza wordlessly grabbed Julia by the arm and dragged her away from the others.

Natsu merely blinked in confusion as he watched.

* * *

Away from the others, on the far side of the ship, Erza sighed and asked, "Is it your goal to make Natsu feel miserable?"

"H – Huh…?" Julia muttered in confusion.

"You automatically assume he has his mates to gain love from them."

Julia narrowed her eyes and huffed lightly.

Erza folded her arms and challenged, "Have you considered that he wants to share his love with them?"

Julia tightened her fists slightly, still remaining silent.

"Natsu's love is not so limited as to be applicable to only one person, he has enough for everyone. I had presumed the one who had grown up with him would know that."

Julia stiffened before gritting her teeth.

"You of all people should know Natsu is happiest when sharing affection with others, not when receiving it. As a result, I have been trying to surround him with as many people for him to share his affection with as possible."

Julia's eyes widened in realization.

"So what you were essentially about to do just now was tell him his happiness is irrelevant."

Julia sighed heavily and lowered her gaze. "That's not…"

"Now perhaps you can avoid getting so agitated."

Julia hissed in annoyance. "Fine. Just remember, _I'm_ the Alpha Female here. You may be one of his first but _I'm_ in charge!"

"No. Natsu is," Erza argued.

"I meant among his females, Red. And if I have to prove it I will."

* * *

"Land!" Natsu and Juvia both cheered as they stepped off the boat and onto the shores of Yamato.

"Oh how I missed you!" Natsu exclaimed.

Elie stepped up to the two and looked around at the rather dingy port city ahead of them. "So this is Hip-Hop Town?"

"Seems like it," Bisca replied.

Elie glanced to the side and noticed a tall, light-adorned building sticking above the others. "They have a huge casino! I'm going to go win us some cash!"

"No, I will!" Erza insisted.

"PUUN!" Plue shouted.

Natsu immediately turned and saw a man in a red blazer running away, holding Plue. "Hey! Give him back!"

"No way!" the man shot back before jumping on a motorcycle.

"He's getting away!" Juvia shouted as he drove away.

"After him!" Lucy insisted.

* * *

Natsu and the others pursued the man but after several minutes, the crowded streets made tracking him difficult.

"Dammit! Where'd he go!?" Natsu shouted angrily.

"No idea," Bisca answered with a sigh.

"Do not worry, we shall find him," Erza eased.

Elie shrugged and then stated, "Well I'm going to go win us some money while you guys look."

Erza, as if having a switch in her head flipped, turned to Elie and added, "I will too."

Natsu twitched an eyebrow but then paled in fear. "Oh boy…"

"What?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"Erza has an… interesting history with casinos."

"Same with Elie," Bisca added.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion.

"Don't ask," Gray insisted. "Let's look for Plue."

* * *

In a dark room with several screens providing scant light, a man sat in a large chair as two others stood behind him.

"You said the Rave Master has appeared?" the man asked as he held a purple gem in his hand.

A tall, muscular, blonde man with a red left eye answered, "Yes, Lord Shuda. His description matches the one Master Jegan gave."

A short, rotund, purple-haired man with glasses over his eyes chortled deviously. "Kukuku, and he has a bunch of pretty girls with him… This will be oh so fun!"

"Keep those ideas of yours under control, Pusha," the tall man chided.

"Tch, you just don't get it, Rugas."

Shuda sighed and asked, "You said he's in Hip-Hop Town?"

"Yes, sir," Rugas answered.

"Let Georco know. We'll head there immediately on Rhapsodia."

* * *

"Argh!" Elie growled as she sat at the roulette table. "Damn it!"

"Is something wrong?" Erza asked as she sat next to Elie.

"This never happens! I never lose like this!"

"Let me see," Erza insisted as she stepped up next to Elie. She stood silently as Elie played another round before suddenly drawing a sword on the dealer.

"H – Huh…?" the man muttered in surprise and worry as he began to sweat.

"You are using magic to manipulate the ball," Erza challenged angrily.

A figure sat nearby, intrigued by Erza's sudden and brazen action.

"N – No I'm not…" the dealer argued weakly.

Erza lowered her blade and then pulled a small, blue stone out of her pocket.

Elie blinked in thought and nodded. "Uh, right."

The figure sat silently, an amused smirk on her face.

Elie played another round, Erza watching the dealer closely. After a moment, the dealer's fingers twitched lightly and the stone in Erza's hand lit up brightly.

"Caught you," Erza challenged with a smirk.

The dealer hissed in annoyance and then snapped his fingers, causing several men to show up and grab Erza's arms.

"You're gonna have to come with us, Missy," one of the men growled.

"I think not," Erza argued before pushing the men away and leaping into the air, two swords appearing in her grasp.

Elie also stood with a growl and pulled the tonfas from her waist.

"Dammit!" the dealer growled. "Get them!"

"I want my money!" Elie howled as she began firing shots throughout the casino, the shots exploding on impact.

Erza landed and swung her swords at the two grunts that tried to grab her before turning as more entered the main area of the casino. With a smirk, she noted, "I suppose the time for play is over."

The figure stood with a smirk, revealing herself to be a young woman with long, straight, black hair tied in a braid starting halfway down and ending with a fluffed ponytail and bright blue eyes, wearing a small, white top with red accents that tightly hugged her rather large bust, a small brown jacket, shoulder-length, blue, fingerless gloves with large green gauntlets over top, white shorts with red accents, thigh-high blue socks, and brown boots that matched her jacket. Smashing her fists together, the woman shouted with a grin, "Well if you're all gonna crash the place, I might as well join in the fun!" Almost immediately, she slammed her fist down, causing a shock wave to jolt through the building.

* * *

Outside, Natsu and the others stood in front of the casino, waiting.

"They've been in there a while," Gray noted with annoyance. "Let's g –"

He was cut off as the building suddenly exploded.

"Huh," Natsu hummed lightly. "That took longer than I expected."

"Eehh?!" Lucy screamed in disbelief.

"Let's go," Bisca insisted with a sigh.

"Aahh…" Elie sighed with relief as she, Erza, and the third woman exited the ruins of the casino. "I feel much better now."

"Indeed," Erza agreed.

"H – Holy crap…" Lucy muttered in shock.

"So what set you off this time?" Bisca asked.

"The dealers were using magic to manipulate the games," Erza explained. "And they attacked us when we exposed them."

Natsu raised an eyebrow but then noticed the black-haired woman with them. "Uh… who's the pretty girl you two befriended? Is she the casino's manager?"

Elie glanced at the woman and then shrugged. "No clue. She just joined us in bangin' up the place."

The woman grinned and then extended a hand with the victory sign. "You can call me Kanami the Great!"

Natsu folded his arms incredulously. "… What's so great about you?"

"Well my rack for one. For two, I'm the greatest Adventurer there is. And I'm the ex-guildmaster of Debauchery Tea Party. Sorta."

Natsu frowned in confusion. "Well, your rack is definitely good, but it's not great. Don't know what's so special about being an adventurer. And that last one sounds more like an orgy set up by Mira and Erza."

Kanami folded her arms in thought. "Huh, that's what Ashura said too."

"Who's Ashura?" Happy asked as he walked up to the busty ravenette.

"Nazuna's boyfriend. He actually looked a lot like your pink friend though. Except he was a little… taller."

Lucy narrowed her eyes in thought before she gaped in disbelief. "W – Wait… when you said Adventurer… you didn't mean… one of _those_ Adventurers, did you…?"

"One of what adventurers?" Natsu asked, not understanding the topic.

Kanami grinned proudly. "Yup, I am. Main class Monk and subclass Chef."

Lucy immediately squealed with excitement.

"Uh-oh," Happy muttered as he tugged on Natsu's pantleg, "Lucy's being weird again…"

"Zip it, cat!" Lucy snarled. "You don't even realize the kind of greatness we're standing in front of! She's an Adventurer! The immortal warriors summoned over two hundred years ago!"

Natsu tilted his head in bewilderment. "… Heh…?"

Lucy sighed heavily. "Don't you ready history? Two hundred forty years ago, the nations of all the world were close to becoming overrun by monsters, so a group of really powerful wizards used an extremely powerful spell to summon the Adventurers. They're immortal warriors. Just one Adventurer is strong enough to take on an entire guild. Plus if they get killed in battle they come back to life almost immediately at a church. Or was it cathedral?"

Natsu tapped a finger in thought. "… I think Igneel told me something about that once, but… You _sure_ that one about their strength is true?"

Kanami answered his question by punching Natsu in the abdomen, sending him flying through several walls.

Natsu stepped out shakily before grinning widely. "Now that was something!"

Kanami responded with a grin of her own. "How'd ya like that one!?"

Gray sighed heavily. "Great, another stupidly strong idiot."

Natsu slammed his fists together with a smirk. "I'll show ya how much by givin' ya one back!"

"Su –!" Kanami began before suddenly stopping and putting a hand to her ear. "Hello?"

Natsu blinked in confusion. "Huh…"

Kanami sighed, putting a hand on her hip. "No, Nazuna, I haven't found him. Yes, I know it's been over a year. Stop calling me when you're drunk." She suddenly flinched and pulled her hand away from her ear before sighing.

"Hey! Who ya talkin' to?"

Kanami turned back to Natsu. "Oh, sorry about that. Just a friend of mine. Haven't you ever used the chat system before?"

"The… what…?"

Kanami blinked in confusion before glancing up slightly. "Ah… you're People of the Land, aren't you?"

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? We live in a ci – wait, _they_ ," Natsu emphasized, pointing at Lucy, Erza, and the others, "live in a city. Me and Happy living in the forest, so we do kinda live on the land. And me and Igneel lived in the mountains when I was a kid."

"That's not… Nevermind. So, what're you people up to?"

Natsu then pulled out the broken section of Decaforce. "We're here to try and get Deca fixed."

Lucy slapped him on the head lightly. " _And_ we need to find Plue!"

"Oh yeah! That creepy guy kidnapped that dog thing!"

"Speaking of," Gray interjected, "while you two were busy in the casino, we found something out."

"And what might that be?" Erza asked curiously.

"Demon Card has almost this entire nation under their control."

"That is not good. I knew they were the largest and most powerful Dark Guild, but I did not know it was this bad."

"Oh just great…" Lucy groaned.

"Let's just find Plue and get out of here," Elie noted.

"I'm afraid it won't be that simple," Kanami interjected.

"Why not?" Natsu asked.

"Entering the town is free. Leaving costs money. About five hundred of the local currency, Edels."

"What?" Erza snarled. "That is ridiculous!"

Gray nodded. "Yeah, well the town is so full of Demon Card creeps that busting out wouldn't be easy."

"Well I guess we should find your dog first, huh?" Kanami asked.

Natsu nodded.

"The guy who took it, was he a weird guy on a motorcycle?"

"Yeah!" Natsu answered loudly.

"Then he probably went for the dog racing stadium."

"Let's go look there then."

"Uwah!" Juvia suddenly shouted.

"Juvia! What's wrong?"

"Natsu-Sama! Look at that big screen!"

Natsu turned and looked at a large television screen over a wide stadium, showing Plue in amongst a large group of dogs, being forced to race via robots, traps, and various other weapons. "What the hell?!"

"Smart bug!" Elie cheered. "If he wins that race, we'll make big money!"

"If he survives, you mean," Bisca added.

"Well why don't we just crash it?" Kanami suggested with a shrug. "They're mean people who hurt those dogs. If I knew who the guy that runs the place is, I'd beat his face in."

Natsu grinned. "I like the way you think! And if we trash enough maybe the big guy in charge will come out!"

Gray groaned in frustration. "Great… so they're bot colossal idiots."

Julia smacked her fists together with a grin. "'Bout time we got a chance to fight! So let's go and burn everything down!"

* * *

As the group approached the stadium, it's large stone walls extending high, Natsu growled in annoyance. "Guess there's only one way in." Almost immediately, Natsu began scaling the stadium's walls.

"You can't be serious…" Lucy groaned.

"He definitely is," Kanami added. "Come on, let's head in."

The others nodded in agreement.

* * *

Natsu reached the top of the wall and watched as floating machines dropped large spears down on the racing animals, skewering some of them. Hissing, Natsu grabbed one of the signboards on the wall's peak and ripped it off, stomping a foot down on it and riding the piece of metal swiftly down the stairs of the colosseum into the main area before landing on the track and grabbing Plue.

One of the guards standing overhead growled and shouted, "Stop him!"

Suddenly, a door near the track opened and a large number of men in red and purple outfits walked out.

Natsu narrowed his eyes as he looked at the emblems on their shoulders. "Demon Card…" Setting Plue down before his fists alit in flames, Natsu then charged at the oncoming group of soldiers. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Sending a punch forward, the flames exploded outwards, knocking the soldiers back.

As Natsu fought, Lucy, Erza, Kanami, and the others entered the stadium and saw him fighting the soldiers.

"The hell is he doing!?" Gray bellowed.

"Being Natsu," Julia countered.

Elie then pulled out her tonfa blasters and shouted, "You jerks will pay for hurting Plue!" before opening fire on the Demon Card soldiers below.

Erza sighed. "Well, since I doubt stopping them will work, we may as well join them."

"Yep!" Kanami smirked as she jumped down with the others into the group of soldiers.

Gray jumped down and slammed his fist into his open palm. "Ice-Make: Cannon!" A large cannon made from ice then appeared on his shoulder which he aimed and fired at the group of soldiers.

Three of the soldiers lunged at Julia. She smirked before flames coated her arms. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" She swung her arms up, causing long, wing-like trails of flame to extend from her fists, before slamming them back down, crushing the three soldiers with trails.

Kanami smirked before swinging a fist forward. "Demon Fist!" A burst of energy then emerged from her fist and shot at several of the soldiers, knocking them back.

Erza Requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and sent several swords at the incoming solders, before the sword returned and formed a wide ring. "Circle Sword!" she shouted before the ring of swords began spinning swiftly and surged forward, taking out over a dozen soldiers at once.

Kanami ducked under a swing from one soldier, sent him flying with a punch, and then immediately turned around and slammed her fist into the face of another before kicking him away, knocking down two more soldiers at the same time.

Natsu and Julia then stood back to back and grinned, both taking in a deep breath.

"Get down!" Erza shouted, prompting Lucy, Kanami, Elie, and the others to drop to the ground.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu and Julia shouted in unison before exhaling massive jets of flame that shot in all directions, taking out the remaining soldiers.

As the flames died down, Natsu sighed in annoyance. "Okay… that's all of 'em."

However, before Natsu and the others could leave, a very short man, with his hair hidden under an absurdly tall hat with Demon Card's emblem on it and his eyes hidden behind thick, black sunglasses, along with a maroon overcoat with fur lining, and pointed shoes, he also held a long cane, walked out onto the track with a wide grin. "Yo dawg," the man began with a thick accent, "your dawg, er, dog, is a big money pot. So put'im back or I'll put you down, dawg."

Natsu hissed in annoyance. "Not a chance, top hat."

"The name's Georco, dawg." Georco then raised a hand towards Natsu's group. "And if you ain't gonna quit it, then you gotta face Smoke Bay, dawg! CO Heaven!" Suddenly, thick purple smoke shot out of his sleeves and surrounded Natsu and the others.

"Wh – What the hell…?"

Georco's grin widened further. "You like it, dawg? My Dark Bring shoots out pure carbon monoxide. It's extremely poisonous, dawg. So now, y'all go to heaven!"

"C – Crap…" Erza cursed in frustration as she began coughing.

"Erza!" Natsu shouted before growling and turning to Georco, throwing a punch at him, only for the man's body to dissipate into smoke.

Georco laughed loudly as he flew around Natsu, spreading more smoke. "You can't hit me, dawg!"

"Natsu…" Lucy called out, coughing violently, "carbon monoxide is… flammable…"

Natsu smirked and then encased his hands in flames.

Georco grinned and wagged one of his fingers. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you ignite my smoke, you'll kill them too."

Bisca weakly raised her pistol and aimed at a silver necklace with a purple jewel hanging around Georco's neck before firing, knocking the ornament off of him.

"Wh – What the…?!" he shouted as his body reverted from its smoky form and he fell to the ground.

Plue saw the jewel lying on the ground and stepped over to it, pecking it with his nose, causing it to shatter, resulting in the smoke quickly dispersing.

"N – No… my Smoke Bay…!"

Natsu then walked up to Georco and cracked his knuckles.

With a gulp, Georco pleaded, "Have mercy… please…"

Natsu immediately knocked the man unconscious with a blow to the face before immediately turning and running to Erza and the others. "Hey! Are you alright?!"

Erza coughed as she sat up. "I am alright. But we need to get out of here before more Demon Card members show up."

Natsu nodded in agreement before helping Erza to her feet.

As the others spoke, Plue rushed over to the cages where the other dogs were being kept and opened the cages.

"Okay, let's get out of here!" Bisca urged before Plue showed up with a large cart being pulled by the racing dogs.

"Good job Plue!" Lucy complimented before she and the others jumped into the cart and exited the arena.

"Let's get out of here!" Natsu cheered as the cart left.

* * *

As the group rode in the cart headed out of the city, Natsu sandwiched between several rather ample cleavages, Lucy sighed in relief.

"We're almost out of the city," Lucy noted with a smile.

Gray narrowed his eyes and then hissed. "Shit, Demon Card blockade!"

"Turn Plue!" Natsu shouted, though slightly muffled.

Plue pulled hard on the reins to the dogs, unfortunately he pulled so hard the reins snapped, causing the cart to veer to the side wildly before falling down a large hole into a sewer.

Natsu groaned as he sat up. "Anyone hurt?"

"Ow…" Lucy moaned as she sat up, "my butt hurts…" She then immediately lifted her skirt slightly to ensure she had not landed on Natsu again, sighing in relief when she saw he was not there. She then turned red when she realized he was sitting directly in front of her.

"Huh. Black lace today?"

"Kya!" she shrieked before slapping him hard in the face.

"What was that for!?" Natsu demanded, a bright red hand mark on his face.

"Shush," Gray suddenly interrupted. "Someone's coming."

* * *

On the ground above, Rugas and Pusha walked into the alley where Natsu and the others had gone down.

"Are you sure you heard voices?" Rugas asked.

"Of course I am!" Pusha argued. "I'd never mistake the voice of a pretty girl!"

"You're an idiot."

"I am not! I swear I'll find the Rave Master and beat him up! Then I can get promoted to general and make Lady Reina my girlfriend."

Bisca, in the sewer below, scowled angrily and cocked the hammer on one of her guns.

Rugas looked around curiously. "Hm? What was that?"

"Probably just your mother calling," Pusha muttered with a sneer.

"I was made in a factory, I have no mother."

"Isn't your mom the factory arms?"

Rugas put a hand on his chin in thought as the two walked away. "Hm… you may be right."

* * *

Back underground, Natsu stood, holding Bisca back with one arm and holding a hand over her mouth with the other. "Calm down!"

However, Bisca struggled in his grip.

"Okay," Gray noted as he looked up out of the hole slightly, "they're gone."

With a sigh, Natsu released Bisca, who immediately turned to him and shouted, "Why'd you stop me?!"

"What are you getting so excited about?" Elie asked in surprise at Bisca's sudden surge of emotion.

"That jerk needs to have his head blown off!"

Natsu frowned in worry. "What's got you so angry?"

"He's threatening my sister!" Bisca suddenly blurted out before stiffening.

The others all stood silently for several moments as they processed the information.

"S – Sister?!" Elie shouted in disbelief, breaking the silence.

Bisca sighed heavily before answering slowly, "… Yes…"

"Your sister's in Demon Card…?" Gray asked in shock.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Well that's… a new one…" Natsu commented.

Suddenly, the pile of rubble nearby began to shake before a person with blonde hair hidden by a construction helmet and blue eyes wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit with brown boots stood up from it.

Natsu pointed at the person in surprise. "And that's another new one."

"What the…?" Gray muttered in confusion.

"Are you guys escaping from Demon Card?" the blonde asked.

Natsu nodded in agreement.

"Then that means you must be the group that caused that ruckus at the stadium."

Lucy laughed weakly. "Yeah… that's us…"

Natsu growled lightly. "They tried to shoot my dog."

With a nod, the new blonde stated, "The name's Hole, and it's my job to help people escape from the city past Demon Card."

"That's great and all, but I have a question," Gray interjected.

"And that is?"

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Hole twitched an eyebrow and then removed the helmet, causing blonde hair to fall to the shoulders.

Elie then bopped her fist into her hand. "Ah-hah! I've got it! You're a boy pretending to be a girl!"

Hole twitched an eyebrow and grabbed the nearest set of hands, those being Natsu's, and pressed them against the jumpsuit's chest.

Natsu nodded. "She's a girl. Huh, nice size too."

Gray twitched an eyebrow lightly with slight jealousy.

Releasing Natsu's hands, Hole then urged, "Come on, I can get you guys outta here."

Natsu grinned happily. "Great! Thanks Ms. Hole!"

* * *

Hole then proceeded to lead the group through a winding series of underground tunnels.

"Whoa…" Lucy mumbled in surprise, "did you dig all these tunnels yourself?"

"I did," Hole answered simply.

Natsu huffed lightly. "Virgo digs just as well."

"What's Virgo?"

"My maid," Natsu answered plainly.

Hole furrowed her brow in thought. "Your maid digs tunnels? I thought it was usually the master who does the spelunking."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

Hole sighed and waved a hand. "Just a joke." She then stopped and pointed down a different tunnel. "This way."

"I don't get it…" Natsu commented with disappointment.

Bisca sighed and patted his head lightly. "It's not important."

* * *

Eventually, the group reached the end of a long tunnel with a ladder at the end. Moving to the ladder, Hole pointed up and explained, "Okay, up this ladder and you'll be beyond the perimeter of the city. Let me check it first." She then began climbing up the ladder.

"Sure you'll be okay?" Natsu asked.

Hole turned to him with a smirk. "I've done this a million times. I'll be fine."

Natsu frowned unconvinced but nothing to stop her from climbing.

After a moment, the group then heard a loud scream from above.

* * *

Exiting out of the manhole leading from underground, Natsu and the others saw Hole being held hostage by a tall man with tanned skin, spiky red hair that jutted upwards sharply and bright red eyes wearing a sleeveless brown shirt, blue pants, brown boots, and a long, white coat with light brown fur draped over his shoulders.

Natsu snarled and demanded, "Oi retard! Let her go!"

The man smirked and then tossed Hole to the side, to the waiting Pusha. "So you must be the new Rave Master."

Natsu tightened his fists and retorted, "And you must be a Grade-A asshole."

The man chuckled lightly. "My name is Shuda, I am one of Demon Card's Oracion Six."

"Oracion Six?" Elie muttered in confusion.

"Demon Card's most elite and most powerful members," Shuda explained.

Natsu smirked in amusement as he raised his fists. "Oh really? Then kicking your ass should be fun."

Shuda huffed in derision. "I'm not like Jegan. I won't lose like him and his obnoxious pet."

Natsu scowled angrily. "Julia's no one's pet!"

Shuda merely smirked in gratification. "Whatever. The opinions of people like you are irrelevant. Fall to my Dark Bring, Valsyar Flames!"

Natsu's scowl quickly turned to a confident grin. "Oh you'll be easy!"

"We'll see about that." Shuda then snapped his finger, causing Natsu to be completely covered in swirling and writhing flames.

However, Natsu immediately swiftly devoured the flames, dissipating them.

Shuda's eyes widened momentarily. "What the…?"

Natsu smirked before his fists were encased with flames. "Guess Jegan didn't tell you much, did he?" He then charged towards Jegan. "I eat flames!"

Shuda hissed before drawing a sword hidden under his coat.

Natsu's fist slammed into the sword but Shuda managed to block the blow, punching him in the abdomen and sending Natsu skidding back.

Natsu watched as Rave fell from his pocket as he slid and grabbed it. He then saw Shuda swinging his blade at him and immediately turned, punching at Shuda.

Shuda snarled and raised his arm to block the punch, only for Natsu's fist to collide with the bracelet on his arm and explode, destroying Valsyar Flames and sending Shuda flying back with a burnt arm.

Natsu grinned. "Awesome!"

Shuda growled angrily and gripped his singed arm. "Fall back!"

Almost immediately, a wide, circular, floating ship appeared in the sky, a ramp descending that Shuda, Rugas, Pusha, and the gathered grunts began to walk up.

"Let me go!" Hole demanded as she attempted to get free of Pusha's grasp.

Pusha merely laughed perversely. "No way! You'll be my girlfriend!"

Natsu snarled and lunged forward, jumping right in front of Pusha's face. "Let her go!"

"Wh – What the…?!"

"Fire Dragon Exploding Fist!" he shouted before punching Pusha with the hand holding Rave, producing an explosion that sent the rotund man flying and releasing Hole from his grasp. "Hole! Are you alright?!"

Hole immediately grabbed onto Natsu, trembling lightly.

"H – Hole…?" Natsu muttered in surprise.

"… Th – Thank you…" she offered slowly.

Natsu blinked in thought before smiling and hugging her lightly. "Don't mention it."

Julia sighed and put a hand on her hip. "This is how he gets them, isn't it?"

"Bingo," Bisca retorted.

Julia sighed before scratching her neck in thought. "Well… I guess I'll just have to accept it then."

Bisca chuckled lightly. "You certainly can't stop it. He's too nice."

Julia smirked lightly. "Yeah. And too caring."

Natsu pulled away from Hole slightly and asked, "You alright, Hole?"

"Y – Yeah," she answered as she stepped away and picked up her hardhat. "Thanks. I should probably head back. There are always people who need help escaping from Hip-Hop Town."

Natsu frowned incredulously. "But what if you get caught again?"

Hole waved a hand dismissively. "That's the first time in three years I've been caught. And besides, Shuda was once a member of the Oracion Six, so he's a special case. Georco is probably the worst we get around here, and he was too stupid to figure out where I was. So I'll be fine."

Natsu's unconvinced frown deepened. "But… If you do get caught, it'll be bad. Really, really bad. Dark Guilds don't do nice."

Hole smiled happily. "Thanks for worrying, but I grew up in this city. I don't like seeing Demon Card wreck it like this, so I like to sock them where it hurts any way I can."

Natsu remained silent, trying to think of ways to convince her against it.

Julia stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think she's going to give up, Natsu."

Natsu sighed heavily. "Fine…"

Hole smiled before walking up to Natsu. Leaning up, she gave him a light kiss on the cheek before heading back to the manhole and jumping back into it, disappearing into the shadows.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow lightly.

Gray folded his arms with a sigh. "Now to find Punk Street."

"Punk Street?" Kanami asked.

Natsu nodded. "We're looking for that blacksmith, Musica."

"I don't know where that is exactly, but I think I know someone who can help."

"Really?!"

Kanami nodded. "Yeah. Shiroe. He used to be in Debauchery Tea Party with me, he lives in the city of Akihabara right now. If we go to him I'm sure he can direct us to this Punk Street place."

"Then let's go!"

* * *

The group spent several days traveling northeast through dense forests until they reached the edge of a large, stone city, much of which was covered in overgrowth.

"Is this… it?" Lucy asked with worry.

Kanami grinned happily. "Yup! This is Akihabara!"

"It's… interesting…"

"Come on, let's go. If we can't find Shiroe immediately I'm sure we can find someone who can help us look for him."

The others nodded and followed her through the large gate that marked Akihabara's entrance.

"This place has certainly seen better days," Julia noted as she looked around.

As they walked further into the city, Natsu noticed a tall woman with long purple hair that reached just below her waist, gold-brown eyes, and tall fox ears atop her head, wearing blue and purple armor that tightly hugged her impressive bust, outclassing even Erza's, along with a yellow sash looped loosely over her hips, a long white haori, dark blue gloves with red gauntlets overtop, as well as armored boots with platform heels.

The woman looked at Natsu curiously for a moment then turned to Kanami with a deep frown.

As the group approached, Kanami saw the woman and waved with a smile. "Hey, Nazuna!" However, after a moment, Kanami flinched slightly. "… Why are you glaring at me…?"

Nazuna, very annoyed, demanded, "Why didn't you tell me you found Ashura?!"

Kanami blinked curiously and then looked around in confusion. "Huh? I found him? When? Where? How?"

Nazuna then immediately pointed at Natsu.

Kanami tilted her head in befuddlement. "Uhh… that's Natsu."

"It's Ashura!" Nazuna insisted.

Kanami frowned lightly. "Are you drunk again…"

With a light hiccup, Nazuna argued, "Yes, but that's irrelevant. And I'll prove to you it's him!"

Julia snarled in annoyance. "He's Natsu, you drunk fox, not this Azura person you're talking about."

Nazuna huffed in annoyance. "He is Ashura you flamin' lizard! Kanami! You check his level! It's over fifty!"

Kanami tilted her head slightly. "Uuhh… no it's not. He's level forty-six."

Nazuna blinked in confusion. "… H – Huh…?"

Kanami then pointed slightly above Natsu's head, resulting in confusion from himself and the others.

Nazuna grumbled in frustration. "Then I'll help him get to, and over, fifty to prove me right!"

Kanami laughed weakly. "That's… not how this works…"

Natsu turned to Erza in confusion. "What's a level?"

Erza shrugged in equivalent bewilderment. "I have no idea."

"Yes it is!" Nazuna argued obstinately. "All we gotta do is make him face a few bosses! I need to –!" Nazuna then immediately fell asleep before finishing her sentence.

The others gaped slightly in confusion as a woman with wavy, honey-blonde hair tied back in a bun, her bangs hanging down and framing her face, chestnut eyes, and wears a pair of thin, frameless glasses over her eyes, along with a knee-length lavender and purple skirt-suit, and purple high-heeled shoes stood behind the now prone Nazuna with a hand raised before sighing.

Natsu walked up to Nazuna and poked her lightly with a confused expression. "Is she okay…?"

The blonde woman sighed, adjusting her glasses lightly, and answered, "Yes, I just put a sleeping spell on her. She'll wake up in a few hours."

Natsu stood up with slightly surprise as he looked at the woman. "Oh… So you know Sleep Magic? You related to Mystogan?"

"Sorry, I've never heard that name. Mine is Henrietta."

Natsu grinned friendlily. "Ah. Nice to meet ya! I'm Natsu!"

The group's conversation was interrupted as a new figure, a tall young woman with long, knee-length, wavy blonde-green hair, bright amber eyes, and long pointed ears wearing a long, green tunic with brown and yellow stripes that was open wide with a small black shirt underneath, exposing a fair amount of her voluptuous cleavage, blue pants, and brown boots came running towards the group with a wide smile.

Natsu gulped slightly as the woman's figure bounced alluringly.

"Kanami!" the woman exclaimed as she ran towards the group.

Kanami flinched slightly. "W – Wait, Marielle, you shouldn't r –"

Kanami's sentence was interrupted as the woman, Marielle, immediately tripped over nothing and slammed face first into the ground.

Happy walked up to the face-down woman and poked her curiously. "I think she's dead."

After a moment, Marielle sat up slowly and rubbed her nose in pain. "Ouchie…"

Natsu gulped lightly. "That's… kinda cute…"

Henrietta then motioned to the blonde as she stood. "By the way, this is Marielle, Guildmaster for the Crescent Moon Alliance."

"The what?"

"Our guild, the Crescent Moon Alliance."

Natsu frowned in confusion and looked at Marielle incredulously. "You're a guildmaster…? You don't look like one."

Marielle immediately fell to her knees, sobbing.

Natsu flinched in surprise and mild fear. "H – Hey! Why are you…?!"

Henrietta laughed weakly. "She can't handle criticism well."

"Ah…"

Marielle, wiping tears, turned to Henrietta. "That's mean, Umeko."

Henrietta twitched an eyebrow and whacked Marielle on the head lightly. "I thought I told you not to call me by my real name!"

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Henrietta sighed as Marielle stood back up. "It's a little complicated."

"Huh. Okay. So…" he trailed off as he looked at the still-sleeping Nazuna, whom had since latched herself to Natsu's leg. "Is she always like this?"

Henrietta sighed and pulled the sleeping woman away from him. "Only when she's drunk. Which is an unfortunately large percentage of the time. She met this guy named Ashura about three years ago and they got into a relationship. But suddenly, about a year ago, he vanished."

Natsu tilted his head in thought. "Really? Huh… Why'd she call me that guy's name then?"

Henrietta shrugged in response. "I'm uncertain. My guess is that you probably resemble him to some degree. Though with her intense desperation to see him, she may think that of just about anyone. They were quite close."

"Guess she must be pretty heartbroken then," Lucy noted somberly.

Henrietta nodded before noting nonchalantly, "Well, you are People of the Land, so I suppose it's possible to have a few lookalikes."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Henrietta waved a hand dismissively before redirecting, "It's nothing. So what brings you to Akihabara?"

"Oh right!" Natsu suddenly shouted. "We're trying to find someone, and Kanami-Chan said Shithead would help us."

Kanami blinked lightly before she began giggling, her giggles soon breaking into full-blown laughter. "Sh - Shiroe! Not… Shithead!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I thought you said his name was Shithead?"

Kanami managed to calm her laughter and shook her head in response. "No, no, it's Shiroe."

"Ah. Okay then."

Marielle then added with a smile, "Ah. I can show you where Shiroe is."

"Cool! Let's get going then!" Natsu replied with a wide smile.

* * *

Marielle led them deeper into Akihabara, the other various Adventurers looking at the gathered group with varying looks from surprise to annoyance.

Natsu narrowed his eyes as he looked around before sighing. "Okay… so where is h –?" he began to wonder, stopping when he bumped into someone.

"M – My apologies," a small voice said.

Natsu turned and saw a petite girl with long, straight purple hair tied in a high ponytail, her flatly cut bangs hanging just above her matching purple eyes, wearing a sleeveless purple top with red, armored reinforcement, particularly around her petite bust, long, dark blue arm-warmers, brown pants with a blue sash-belt that hung loosely behind her, and tall, armored, black boots. Looking at the young-looking girl in thought Natsu nodded slowly. "Uh, sure. No problem, miss."

The girl looked at Natsu curiously and tilted her head to the side slightly. "Wait, I don't recognize you."

Natsu smiled and said proudly, "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

The girl straightened her posture and bowed to him. "Ah. Nice to meet you. I'm Akatsuki."

"That's a bit of an… odd name. Though, I guess it suits a cute girl like you."

Her face tinted lightly as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "Uh, thanks…"

Henrietta, however, giggled perversely as she looked at the petite girl.

Akatsuki, seemingly on reflex, jumped up on Natsu's shoulders to escape the giggling woman.

Natsu blinked curiously as he glanced up. "Huh? What are you doing up there?"

"Come here, my little Akatsuki…" Henrietta said with perverse glee.

Akatsuki, still on Natsu's shoulders, pointed at Henrietta with a frown. "Stay away from me you freak."

"Huh," Natsu mumbled in thought. "Didn't peg her for a lesbian lolicon."

Henrietta then pulled a small dress, seemingly out of nowhere, and showed it to the unwilling Akatsuki. "Come on Akatsuki… You'll look so cute!"

"I said stay away!" Akatsuki argued as Natsu slowly back away from Henrietta. However, Akatsuki then lost her balance and slipped from Natsu's shoulders, pulling his vest with her and exposing his entire torso.

Marielle gaped as she looked at him before drooling slightly. "Such… muscles…"

Natsu gulped slightly. "Uh-oh…"

Without wasting another moment, Marielle then launched herself at Natsu, tackling him to the ground with a hug.

As the woman hugged and swooned over him, Natsu flinched lightly. "Suffocating… boobs…"

Nazuna ended up waking due to the noise nearby and saw Marielle hugging Natsu tightly. Growling, she yanked Natsu away from Marielle and hugged him into her own bosom. "Back off!"

Marielle pouted deeply. "B – But… muscles…"

"No! He was mine first!"

Natsu started turning blue from lack of oxygen. ' _Th – This is… bad…_ '

Erza stepped in and pulled Nazuna away from Natsu.

"H – Hheeyy…" the fox-woman pouted, "give him back…!"

"There's certainly a lot of excitement here," a new voice commented.

The group turned and saw two figures approach.

The first was a tall man with short, slicked back, grey-brown hair, and similar grey eyes wearing thick, bulky, grey and blue-grey armor with a large shield on one arm.

The second was a man with messy blue hair, and dark blue eyes, wearing circular, half-frame glasses, a long-sleeved black shirt, grey gauntlets on his forearms, a brown leather harness over his torso, a brown belt with a large bag on one side, green pants, and matching shoes, with a long white cloak with a wide collar, held closed by a red and silver clip.

Kanami turned to the blue-haired man with a smile. "Ah, Shiroe!"

* * *

 **And finish! That does it for the ninth chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I would hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, be sure to post a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or simply have a question about anything, let me know in a review and I will do my best to address it in a reviewer response. If you did not like the chapter, go ahead and post a review still, though I would recommend finding something you actually enjoy afterwards. That said, with this chapter done I await you at the next one! Bye-bye!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X**

 **Hello and greetings to all. I have come with yet another chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I am aware the time since the last one is not particularly long, but I feel like this story at the moment. At any rate, I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, and it seems at least some did. I equally hope everyone enjoys this chapter, so be sure to leave a review if you do. That aside, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with the story so far, and his continued aid with it. So, with that out of the way, it is time for the reviewer responses.**

 **superpeirce: The newest additions, Kanami, Henrietta, and the like, are from Log Horizon.**

 **gwb620: No. No there is not.**

 **Jose19: Actually, it's not just because the theme is the same. They're by the same author, share a lot of chronological similarities, and have in fact crossed over numerous times, often in just small ways but once in a full-blow Omake. He does still have the same set of powers but he also has others and will gain numerous others as time goes on.**

 **I know you haven't, it happens. I hope it is as well. That is a rather dick thing to do, unfortunately reviews aren't quite the space to talk about that kind of thing. PM me if you want to talk about that at length.**

 **Jalis: Yes it was, hopefully good plot progression. She does seem the "alpha girl" type, doesn't she? Yes. Demon Card is not merely a guild based in Fiore. I know the world can be a bit confusing at first, and I would like to lay out the general geography here but doing so would give away a few spoilers. If you want full details you can send me a PM, but for now, I can say this. The geography of Earth Land in my story is based on the geography of Elder Tale from Log Horizon, i.e., a one-half scale version of Earth with the seven continents. The Lyric Continent is placed where Asia sits in our world, if it being in Yamato/Japan hadn't clued you in to that. Ishgar, the continent that most of Fairy Tail happens on, is placed where Europe is in our world, which naturally means Alakitacia, which I have not yet decided if it will get involved or not, is placed on North America. There are other continental set ups beyond those three, but saying anymore would give away spoilers for later in the story.**

 **treeofsakuras: Hopefully the result is entertaining to you.**

 **monkiepawn: Yeah... I kinda messed that part up. I don't even know how it happened.**

 **Yes, he did.**

 **Perhaps, I had intended to use her a little more but ended up not doing so.**

 **If you're confused already then I'm afraid it's only going to get worse.**

 **Well the way I usually do things in my harem stories is that I get the girls in first and do their story development later on.**

 **Yet. The explanations come later.**

 **That was a rather good-sized glut of reviews to respond to. Keep them coming, folks! So, time to get on with the main event then, shall we?**

* * *

Kanami turned to the blue-haired man with a smile. "Ah, Shiroe!"

The armored man turned and noticed Erza, Julia, and the others and gaped. "Holy mega ti –!"

Akatsuki immediately jumped up and then ax-kicked him in the head, knocking him to the ground.

Natsu blinked in confusion. "Huh. Who's the dopey guy in the trench coat and glasses and the perv Aka-Chan knocked down?"

Henrietta motioned to the cloak-clad man and said, "This is Shiroe," she then motioned to the armored man, "and the man with his face in the dirt is Naotsugu."

Natsu pointed at Shiroe in mild surprise. "Wait, this dopey guy is Shithead?"

Shiroe laughed weakly. "I've been called many things, but that's a new one."

Natsu frowned incredulously. "… Are you _really_ sure this is the guy that can help us Kana-Chan?"

Kanami smiled brightly. "Yup!"

"Right…" Natsu answered slowly, unconvinced. "He doesn't look like the reliable type…"

Shiroe adjusted his glasses slightly and then redirected, "So who are these people?"

Kanami turned to him and explained, "Bunch of people I met after leaving a casino in ruins."

Shiroe sighed heavily. "Again…?"

Kanami laughed weakly and rubbed the back of her head guiltily. "… Well _they_ started it so I just joined in… Kinda…"

Shiroe sighed once more before turning to Natsu's group. "So what do you need?"

"We're looking for someone," Bisca answered.

"Is that so? Perhaps I can help."

"Musical!" Natsu answered excitably.

Shiroe tilted his head in confusion. "Musical?"

"He means Musica," Erza corrected, "a blacksmith."

Shiroe folded his arms in thought. "Hhmm… Ah. Him. He lives in the city of Punk Street, far to the west of here. Getting there won't be easy though."

"Why?" Lucy asked, starting to become concerned.

"It's out west past the city of Minami. Minami is being commanded by Plant Hwyaden and its guild master, Nureha."

Natsu blinked before frowning in consternation. "Nureha…"

"She has a stranglehold on the entire area. Adventurers and Landers alike."

"No… can't be the same one…"

"So if you want to get to Punk Street the first thing you'll need to do is get past Minami."

Natsu grinned confidently. "Bah, should be easy!"

"Marielle!" a new voice shouted.

The others turned and watched as a young man with short, spiky blue hair and teal eyes, with two long wolf ears atop his head, wearing blue and gold armor, ran up to the group.

Marielle blinked curiously as he stopped right next to them, huffing with exhaustion. "Huh? Shoryu? What's wrong?"

"We… we've got a big problem…!" Shoryu shouted.

"What is it?" Henrietta asked, concerned.

"It's Serara…!"

"What about her?"

"She's being held captive in Susukino!" Shoryu explained frantically.

"What?!" all of the Adventurers shouted in disbelief and horror.

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?" He then turned to Nazuna curiously. "What's going on Nazuna?"

Nazuna narrowed her eyes and explained, "Serara is a young member of our guild. She went to the city of Susukino before the Catastrophe. But now she's stuck there."

"Then what are we all doing just standing around here for?! Let's go save her!"

"It's not that simple," Shiroe argued as he adjusted his glasses. "It will take at least a month to get from here to Susukino."

"By foot, right?" Natsu challenged. "How long by air?"

"Like you can fly," Akatsuki added dismissively.

"He can't," Julia interjected, "but I can."

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, and so can Ophi."

"I think there's something else you guys need to hear," Shoryu interjected.

"What is it?" Elie asked curiously.

"That city, Susukino, is being controlled by Brigandia. Its guild master is Demiqas, a really brutal and cruel guy. Even back when this was a game he did everything he could to torture people. And now, it's gotten even worse. Serara said the reason she's hiding is because he's given her two choices, become his servant or… or be sold as a slave…"

Natsu's eyes lit up with fury as he tightened his fists, trying to contain the anger at such a heinous proclamation.

"Then let's get moving," Shiroe urged, narrowing his eyes.

"Wait, Shiroe," Marielle interjected. "You're not a part of our guild, you don't need to get involved in this."

"I don't think that matters," Natsu argued. "I don't even really know you people, but if this person's a friend of yours and she's in trouble, then we need to do everything we can to help her."

Lucy nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I agree with Natsu."

Erza nodded as well.

"But how will we get there in time?" Akatsuki questioned, concerned.

Natsu then pulled out Ophiuchus' key and prepared to summon her. However, Julia grabbed his arm and stopped him. "I can fly faster than her," Julia argued.

Natsu frowned slightly, knowing that she was right but seeing the obvious flaw in her suggestion. "But you can't carry us all."

"She won't need to," Shiroe added. Adjusting his glasses with a slight cough, he appended, "Not that I see how she could to begin with."

"Let's get to where we can take off and I'll show you," Julia challenged.

Shiroe nodded in reply.

* * *

With that, Natsu, Erza, Julia, Lucy, Elie, Juvia, Bisca, Kanami, Nazuna, Akatsuki, Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Gray left the city and prepared to head out to rescue Serara.

"So what's this supposed flight you have?" Shiroe asked curiously.

Julia smirked before her body lit up and then expanded suddenly, entering her immense dragon form.

Shiroe gaped in complete awe. "That's not part of the game…"

Natsu grinned proudly. "If you guys aren't going to ride on Julia, how do you plan to get there?"

Kanami, Naotsugu, and Shiroe then pulled out long, wooden whistles as Julia returned to her human form.

"The heck are those?"

The trio then blew into the whistles strongly, a loud, high-pitched sound emitting from them.

Almost immediately, three, massive, four-legged creatures with avian feet and heads, with large feathered wings, landed near them.

"G – Griffons!?" Lucy exclaimed, having never seen such creatures in reality.

Akatsuki gaped in disbelief. "Wh – What?! How'd you get griffons?!"

Shiroe rubbed the Griffon's shoulder and explained, "They were the reward for a quest the developers made a few years ago."

Akatsuki frowned in thought and then gulped. "R – Really? … I think I'll ride with Natsu…"

Shiroe raised an eyebrow in shock. "Huh? Oh, go ahead. I'm still trying to figure out how your friend transforms like that. I've never heard about any monsters like that in the game before."

Natsu immediately lunged forward and punched Shiroe the face, hard, knocking him to the ground, with an enraged scowl. "Don't you fucking dare call her a monster Shithead!"

"Gah!" Shiroe groaned as he stood, rubbing his now swollen cheek. "S – Sorry…! Monster's just a generic term to refer to animals in the game."

"She isn't an animal!" Natsu demanded with a scowl. "And stop calling this a game!"

Shiroe sighed heavily. "I think… some explanations are in order."

Nazuna nodded as she merely stood behind Natsu, hugging him lightly.

"To us, the people you call Adventurers, this world isn't, or I suppose the more proper term at this point is wasn't, real. It's a virtual world inside of a video game called Elder Tales."

Julia frowned incredulously. "Rriigghhtt…"

"No, he's telling the truth," Nazuna interjected.

Kanami nodded in agreement.

Shiroe then began, "Most of us are people controlling a character, a virtual creation of our own." Shiroe stopped and pointed at Natsu. "People like you, who call themselves People of the Land, or Landers, which we call NPCs or Non-Player Characters, are the natural inhabitants of this world." Shiroe stopped once more and pointed to Plue, then to Julia. "Ones like them, who are not controlled by a player, not an Adventurer, and who aren't NPCs, or Landers like you, are referred to as Monsters."

Natsu growled lightly.

Nazuna chuckled and patted his head lightly. "It's just a term, don't get mad."

Natsu merely huffed in annoyance.

"I mean no insult, honestly," Shiroe eased as he continued, "it's just the term used to describe them. Now, for the confusing part."

"Wait… that _wasn't_ the confusing part…?" Lucy asked in worry.

Shiroe sighed and then began, "Roughly one month ago, the developers of the game released an expansion called Novasphere Pioneers. When the expansion launched, thirty thousand players, including myself, Kanami, Akatsuki, and many others, got trapped in this world. Everything seems mostly the same as it was when this was a game, but we can't log out and it's very apparent that the rules have changed somewhat. I could explain that part to you, but you'd need to have an understanding of basic video games, and, as far as I know, video games don't exist in this world."

Erza folded her arms in thought. "I see. So, if I understand correctly, you come from another world where ours is little more than fiction and are now here, where it is very real."

Shiroe nodded as he pushed his glasses up lightly. "Basically. But some things are still the same. Our menus, equipment, stats, and various incidental systems are still the same. We also still respawn after death."

Natsu huffed as he folded his arms. "Sounds like a mass interdimensional teleportation spell to me."

The other Fairy Tail members looked at Natsu in complete shock and disbelief.

Lucy, agape, asked weakly, "Was Natsu just… smart…?"

"I…" Gray mumbled in equal shock, "think so…"

Shiroe rubbed his chin in thought. "Hhmm… I suppose it's possible. But the question is who did it."

Natsu shrugged and answered, "I don't know. Mama Ama once told me a story 'bout something that could do it. But those where just bed time stories."

"I see. For now, let's stop worrying about that and head out to rescue Serara."

The others nodded in agreement as Julia resumed her draconic form.

* * *

As they flew in the skies high above Yamato, Natsu, Akatsuki, Nazuna, Erza, and several others perched on Julia's back, Akatsuki held tightly to Natsu as the wind rushed past her. "W – We're so high…"

Natsu glanced back at her with an excited smirk. "Yeah! Isn't it awesome?"

Akatsuki turned to him in disbelief, tinted with her fear of the extreme height. "Who could call this awesome?!"

Natsu blinked in confusion for a moment, not understanding Akatsuki's tenseness. However, after a moment of thought, he smiled in understanding and put a hand over the small hand that she gripped his torso with. "Don't worry, we're completely safe up here. Julia won't let you fall and neither will I. That's a promise."

Akatsuki glanced up at him unsurely for a moment in silence before nodding. "… O – Okay…"

"Good. Go ahead and close your eyes. It will help."

Akatsuki frowned uncertainly but after pondering for a few seconds nodded and closed her eyes, leaning against Natsu's back.

"Well?"

"Y – Yeah…" Akatsuki answered, her tension easing, "this does help…"

Natsu grinned warmly. "Told you it would."

"Hey!" Naotsugu suddenly shouted as the group flew towards a tall, snow-topped mountain. "We're coming up on Mt. Fuji!"

Shiroe nodded and then pointed ahead to a large group of Wyverns circling the mountain. "All those Wyverns are still here. We'll either have to kill them or go through the mountain."

Julia then took a deep breath before releasing a loud, bellowing roar that caused all of the Wyverns around the mountain to scatter almost instantly.

"… That works too."

Naotsugu grinned in amazement. "Hot _and_ badass! I like it!"

"She's mine!" Natsu immediately snapped.

"Let's hurry to Susukino," Shiroe interrupted. "Serara is in great danger. Plus, she wasn't there alone, I'm worried about her party members."

"Then let's pick up the pace!" Natsu urged. "Everyone hold tight!" Leaning down to look at Julia, he shouted, "Julia Full Speed!"

Julia released a short roar before flapping her wings strongly and surging forward.

* * *

Eventually, the group landed in a large forest and began making their way towards Susukino. Soon enough, they saw the city itself, surrounded by a tall, grey, stone wall.

"So…" Natsu muttered, "is this the place?"

"It's so cold," Lucy complained as she looked at the snow around them.

Shiroe immediately put up a hand. "Shush."

"Huh?" Bisca muttered.

Shiroe pointed ahead as several villagers driving a carriage made their way down the dirt path ahead of them. Suddenly, several men wearing heavy armor with large swords and axes appeared from the forest and attacked the carriage, knocking it over and pulling the villagers from it.

"You bastards!" one of the villagers shouted before one of the armored men snarled and stabbed his sword through the villager's heart, killing him instantly.

Two more of the men then stood over two other villagers, a woman and her young daughter.

The first man snickered before reaching out to the two.

However, Natsu suddenly emerged from the side of the road. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he shouted as he slammed a flaming fist into the first man, sending him flying with the resultant explosion.

"No, wait!" Shiroe shouted as Natsu charged. "They're Adventurers! You don't stand a chance!"

The second man swung his sword at Natsu, but Natsu dodged and swung his fist again. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" As the man was sent flying, Natsu scowled and cracked his fingers. "You jerks are immortal, right? That means I can beat your faces in all I want! So no holding back!"

"You son of a…!" the first man snarled as he charged, only for Erza to suddenly dash out in front of him.

"I normally prefer not to kill," Erza began angrily, "but with ones such as you, I shall make an exception." A large, spiked blade then appeared in her grasp in a flash of light, which she raised high above the man.

The man cowered and begged, "W – Wai – aarrgghh!" before she swung her blade down, slicing the man in half.

The first man that launched the attack growled and raised his sword as light swirled around him. "I'll make you pricks pay!"

Natsu growled and rushed forward, flames concentrating on one of his feet. "Fire Dragon Claw!" he howled as he sent a high, spinning kick, a long, wide, trail of flames following that sent the man flying.

The man groaned before Natsu approached him and raised a flame-encased foot over the man's head. "W – Wait a –!" the man shouted before Natsu slammed his foot down.

"Wow…" Kanami muttered in disbelief.

"Th – They just took out three level sixty players so quickly…" Shiroe added in shock.

"Yes!" Nazuna cheered. "He _is_ Ashura!"

"Okay," Natsu interjected, "let's go save Serara."

* * *

Kanami stared at Erza and Natsu as the group walked into Susukino.

"Their power is quite impressive," Shiroe noted.

"Yeah but…" Kanami muttered. "It doesn't make sense."

Shiroe nodded in agreement. "Yes, but for now, let's worry about finding Serara. At least for the moment we're mostly safe."

"Why's that?" Natsu asked as they walked through the snow-covered, dingy streets of Susukino.

Shiroe adjusted his glasses and explained, "One of the few rules that's carried over from when this was a game is that if Adventurers engage in acts of violence within a city, the Royal Guard appears."

"Royal what now?" Natsu asked in confusion, not knowing the term.

Shiroe stopped and pointed down an alleyway where two Adventurers were arguing when one pulled a blade and slashed at the other. Suddenly, a ring of light appeared in the air from which a tall, thick, suit of black armor with glowing blue lines appeared and grabbed the man. The man pushed the armor away, which then swung the large ax on its back and chopped the man in half.

"And while they manage to stop Adventurers from fighting," Shiroe continued, "they have some major flaws."

"Huh?" Natsu asked.

"They only show up if one Adventurer uses a weapon, meaning if they just use their fists nothing will happen. They also don't try to stop People of the Land from attacking Adventurers or each other. And most disturbingly, they have no sense of morality, meaning if an Adventurer draws a weapon to defend themselves against a large group of other people, they'll be the one the Royal Guard attacks."

"That's stupid. But I guess it means Kana-Chan's lucky."

"Come again?"

Natsu smirked, "She fights with her fists. Meaning no Royal Jerk will bug her."

Kanami chuckled lightly. "My gauntlets count as weapons. If I have them equipped, or use a spell they'll get me. I kinda… learned that the hard way."

"Oh." He then furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait, armor counts as a weapon?"

Shiroe turned to him and explained, "Kanami is what's called a Monk class. Rather than using swords, shields, or other such weapons, they use large, weaponized gauntlets."

"What if she wears regular armor gauntlets? You know, non-weapon type stuff?"

"That's not possible," Shiroe argued. "Standalone gauntlets that don't count as weapons aren't available. The only way to get gauntlets that don't count as weapons are like Naotsugu which cover the entire arm and augment defense, not offense."

Natsu huffed lightly. "I call bullshit on that one."

"Besides, something like that is heavy armor. Kanami can only wear light armor."

Natsu snarled in annoyance.

"So how are we supposed to find this girl?" Julia interjected.

"She managed to find a hiding spot and is currently there with someone," Shiroe explained.

"Where is that then?" Erza questioned.

"I can't say out loud," Shiroe said warily.

"Why not?" Gray wondered, slightly annoyed.

"Look around you," Shiroe urged, motioning to the various grunts and soldiers watching them as they moved through the streets. "This whole city is under Brigandia's control; they've been watching us ever since we entered town. And no doubt they'll launch an ambush the moment we step outside the safe zone."

Natsu snorted dismissively. "They try, I burn them."

Nazuna remained silent for a moment before turning to Kanami. "… You sssuuurrreee this guy isn't Ashura, Kanami?"

"He's not," Shiroe interjected. "Ashura was a level ninety Monk. Our friend here is a level forty-six Paladin." Shiroe blinked in confusion before furrowing his brow. ' _Wait, level forty-six? That… that's impossible… Unless… Unless he's a…_ ' After a moment of deep thought, Shiroe sighed heavily. "Okay, we're close by. Akatsuki, stand lookout, Naotsugu, don't let anyone else go in."

"Right," Akatsuki and Naotsugu answered before the purple-haired girl vanished in a flurry of pink light.

Lucy put her hands on her hips with mild irritation. "And what are we supposed to do?"

Shiroe turned to the Fairy Tail members and recommended, "You should disperse and keep an eye open for anybody that tries to get close."

"I'm going in there with you," Natsu insisted.

Nazuna pointed at Natsu and appended, "I go where he goes."

Shiroe sighed in resignation. "Fine. Let's go."

* * *

Natsu, Nazuna, and Shiroe ascended a winding set of stairs in a dilapidated stone building before walking down a long, vine-filled hallway, eventually reaching a single, functional door near the end of the hall.

Shiroe walked up to the door and knocked in a specific, three-beat pattern. "Serara, I'm Shiroe, Marielle sent me to get you."

After a moment, the door opened revealing a tall, humanoid cat with purple and white fur, wearing a grey, high-collared shirt, a black vest, a green, striped coat, dark blue pants, and brown gloves. The cat-man looked at Shiroe in thought before smirking. "Well if it isn't Shiroechi," he remarked in a smooth voice.

"Holy cat!" Happy suddenly shouted as he stood with the group.

The cat-man glanced down at Happy and smirked in amusement. "Now I wouldn't describe myself as holy, my fine feline, but I do appreciate the compliment."

Natsu blinked in confusion and then pointed at the humanoid feline as he glanced at Shiroe. "Uuhh… Is this guy supposed to be here?"

Shiroe smirked as he pushed his glasses up slightly. "So you're the one who's been taking of Serara, Nyanta."

The cat-man, Nyanta, smirked slightly before bowing. "The one and only. This little kitten's been adorable as can be. I'd have clawed out Demiqas' eyes by this point, but I don't want this little thing to see such… barbarism."

Natsu sighed but then leaned to the side and saw a young girl with long, wavy red hair, tied loosely at the end, and light brown eyes wearing a large pink scarf with yellow and white stripes, a lightly armored orange top, a white and blue dress with a pink cloth tied to one side, and a pair of brown boots standing in the center of the modest room. Natsu blinked in thought and then waved at the girl. "Hey there."

The girl flinched suddenly and looked around frantically before suddenly bowing. "U – Uh, hello, nice to meet you," she greeted in a worried and frantic tone. "I'm Serara. My main class is Druid with a subclass of Housekeeper." Her face then turned a shade of red that matched her hair. "I – I know that it's a really useless subclass, but I thought it'd be really good since it can learn skills from other classes and I…"

Natsu chuckled lightly and waved a hand disarmingly. "It's okay. My name's Natsu Dragneel. I don't know what your… class thingy would call me, but I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer."

Serara stared at Natsu in confusion for several moments before tilting her head. "Uuhh… wait, you're not a player…"

Shiroe nodded in agreement. "Correct. He's one of the People of the Land."

Natsu folded his arms in annoyance. "You don't need to say it like I'm insignificant."

With a sigh, Shiroe muttered, "Well, this is step one finished."

"Yeah." With a grin, Natsu added, "Now comes the fun part."

"We have to get out of the city, and when we step out of the city limits, they'll launch an ambush."

Flexing his neck, Natsu rebutted, "Too bad for them we know they plan to ambush us. Meaning we are going to ambush their ambush."

Shiroe adjusted his glassed and retorted, "Those others we fought before were small fry. The guild master, Demiqas, will be the real challenge."

Natsu huffed dismissively. "Bah! He can't beat me, Erza and Julia!"

"He won't be alone. It's likely he'll have other level ninety players with him."

Natsu shrugged. "So? We can take them."

Shiroe sighed and glanced ahead. "It's not us I'm worried about."

Serara pouted somberly. "… I won't get in the way, I promise…"

Natsu smiled warmly and walked up to the girl, putting a hand on her head lightly. "Don't worry, you won't be in danger."

"Come on," Shiroe urged. "Let's get moving. We won't have much time once they see we have Serara."

* * *

Julia yawned as the group made their way through the snow and soot covered streets of Susukino towards its exit gate.

Shiroe narrowed his eyes as he adjusted his glasses. "We're almost at the edge of the city. Once we leave they'll attack us, so be ready."

"Yeah, yeah," Julia waved a hand dismissively. "I'll be sure to bite them in half."

"Don't be too careless. Unlike us death is permanent for you."

Julia huffed in derision. "Like a human can take me down. They can't even put a scratch on Father."

Lucy furrowed her brow in thought. "You mentioned him before. What's he like?"

Julia sighed as she folded her arms. "Strong. Quiet. Commanding. Doesn't take shit from anyone. Oh, and he wiped out a continent once on his own to."

Lucy shivered lightly. "Scary…"

Natsu nodded with a smirk. "Yeah he is. But he's pretty cool."

Lucy shivered even more. "Now I'm even more scared…"

Julia smiled and rebutted, "Don't be. He doesn't eat humans. He tends to spit them out."

Lucy gulped in fear.

Shiroe pushed his glasses up lightly as he narrowed his eyes. "Everyone, get ready, we'll be passing the gate in a few seconds."

Natsu smirked and cracked his knuckles. "'Bout time."

"Three… Two… One…" Shiroe counted down as they exited the city.

Suddenly, several figures emerged from the forests that flanked the road.

The leader of the group, Demiqas, a tall, heavily muscular, dark-skinned man with shoulder-length, wild purple hair and brown eyes wearing a white and red uniform with yellow fur lining and thick grey armor on his legs and arms, with one arm having a set of four, long, large claws on the back of the hand, stood at the front of the group.

Natsu narrowed his eyes as he looked at the large man. "Is this the guy?"

Shiroe nodded before adjusting his glasses once more. "Yes. This is Demigra."

Demiqas snarled in annoyance and rebutted, "It's Demiqas, four-eyes."

Natsu stepped forward, cracking his knuckles, and interjected, "I'll just call him Dumugly."

"Cram it," Demiqas snarled at Natsu before redirecting his attention to Shiroe. "Alright, four-eyes, you, your team, and that cat bastard need to leave if you know what's good for you. That girl's mine."

Natsu extended his arm in front of Serara. "Not a chance, Dumugly."

Demiqas huffed as he raised his fists. "Then I'll just beat you all into the dirt!"

"That's my line!" Natsu growled as he pulled out Leo and Ophiuchus' keys.

"The hell are you doing?" Demiqas asked in annoyance before Natsu raised the keys.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Lion: Leo! Open, Gate of the Snake Charmer: Ophiuchus!"

Akatsuki blinked curiously before two magic circles appeared overhead, from which Ophiuchus and Leo appeared.

Demiqas stiffened slightly as he saw the gigantic, mechanical snake before him. "Wh – What the hell…?"

Natsu hissed angrily before ordering, "Ophi, Leo, handle his grunts. I want to personally flatten this bastard's face. And no holding back. At all."

"Understood," Leo answered plainly before drawing her sword swiftly with a wide swing, sending out a large blade of energy that chopped down several trees, as well as bisected the Brigandia members hiding behind the trees.

"Holy shit…" Kanami muttered in disbelief.

Ophiuchus' mouth then opened wide before a beam of energy fired outward, carving a swath of destruction through the nearby forest, leaving a molten trail and vaporizing the Brigandia members within.

Demiqas' eyes widened before he scowled at Natsu. "I don't know how you summoned those things, but I'll beat your skull in and get rid of them."

"Sorry pal," Natsu challenged before his fists and feet were encased in flame. "You're mine."

Shiroe's eyes widened as he saw the flames on Natsu's body. ' _Wh – What the…? Is that a skill in the game I don't remember…?_ '

"And I'm gonna burn you to ashes!"

"Bring it, you damn Lander!" Demiqas scowled as Natsu charged.

Natsu swung a fist at Demiqas, but the large man easily dodged before sending out a powerful kick. "Aura Saber!" he shouted before a shock wave resulted from his kick and sent Natsu flying. Demiqas smirked confidently, a smirk that fell as Natsu spun midair and planted his feet on the ground.

Natsu then took in a deep breath and then shouted, "Fire Dragon Roar!" before a massive gout of flames shot from his mouth and raced towards Demiqas.

"Shit!" Demiqas cursed before blocking, unable to escape the flames, swiftly being consumed by the blast.

Shiroe gaped slightly in surprise. "S – Such power…"

"Now there's a spell I don't remember from the game," Nyanta commented with a smirk.

Natsu sighed slightly as the flames died down. "Is that it?"

Demiqas hissed in annoyance as the flames dispersed.

Nyanta smirked slightly wider. "Impressive. That one attack shaved off half his HP."

Lucy turned to him curiously. "HP?"

"Yes," Shiroe began. "We Adventurers have a slightly different way of judging how long before we die. It's HP, or Hit Points. Each time we receive damage a we lose a small portion of it."

"I don't… really get it…" Lucy grumbled in confusion.

Shiroe laughed lightly. "Don't worry, you don't really need to."

Demiqas growled and then turned to several other Brigandia members that stood in the background of the fight. "Don't just stand there!"

The grunts flinched before they began casting spells to heal Demiqas.

Erza huffed in derision before Requipping into her Heaven's Wheel Armor. "Dance my blades!" she shouted as many swords appeared in the air around her and surged towards the goons.

"Wh – What the he –?!" one of the grunts shouted before being struck by several of the swords.

"Naotsugu," Shiroe suddenly hollered, "Aggro!"

"Got it!" the heavily armored man shouted back before drawing a large sword from his shield and rushing forward, raising his shield before he became engulfed in green light. "Anchor Howl!"

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Shit!" another of the Brigandia goons snarled as the light spread.

"What was that?" Elie asked as she turned to Shiroe.

"Anchor Howl," Shiroe began to explain. "It's a spell used by the Guardian class. It causes all enemies in a certain radius to be focused on the Guardian. If they turn away from him and try to attack someone else they'll be hit with a vicious counterattack. It also increases the Guardian's defense to make them able to handle the inevitable barrage of attacks."

Natsu grinned before turning back to Demiqas. "Cool. I'll finish this off then."

Demiqas huffed in derision. "Dumbass, I wasn't caught in that Guardian's stupid ass spell. So I'll still kick your ass!"

Natsu smirked as he flared the flames on his fists.

Demiqas then charged toward Natsu before slamming his fist into the ground, hard. "Tiger Echo Fist!" he shouted before a powerful shock wave surged outward, knocking Natsu airborne.

"What the…?!" Natsu shouted as he was tossed into the air. "Fire Dragon Elbow!" Natsu shouted before flames erupted from his elbows, sending him surging back down towards Demiqas. "Fire Dragon Claw!" he shouted before he swung a wide, roundhouse kick, leaving a long, wide trail of flames that slammed into Demiqas, though the sturdily built man was merely sent sliding back slightly.

As the two fought, Nyanta glanced at Shiroe. "Hey, Shiroechi."

"Yeah?" Shiroe replied mindlessly as he watched the fight.

"You must've noticed it too, hm? Natsuchi there might just be a level forty-six Lander, but he's got even more HP than me. Not to mention the amount of power in those attacks doesn't match up with his level. And then there's the redhead. She's level forty-eight and she's got more health than any player I've ever met."

"Yeah," Shiroe answered, narrowing his eyes as Natsu blocked a strike from Demiqas, spun up above the man, and then slammed his knee into the back of Demiqas' head, only for Demiqas to grab him by the shin and slam him into the ground.

"Think they might be part of that group?" Nyanta asked curiously.

Narrowing his eyes, Shiroe replied, "I'd say it's more than likely that they are."

Natsu snarled and sent another punch at Demiqas, however the large man vanished before his punch could connect. "Huh? Where'd Dumugly go…?"

"Behind you!" Shiroe suddenly bellowed as Demiqas appeared behind Natsu.

"Dragon Tail Swing!" Demiqas shouted as he swung his leg high and strong, hitting Natsu with enough force to send him flying several meters.

Natsu stood up and spat before smirking confidently. "You call _that_ a dragon attack?" Natsu then rushed forward and grabbed Demiqas by the arm. "Here's what a real dragon attack feels like! Fire Dragon Grip Strike!" Flames suddenly exploded from Natsu's hand, engulfing Demiqas in a large burst of fire at pointblank range.

Demiqas howled in pain as the strike knocked him to the ground. He snarled with rage as he stood. "You… bastard…! The hell kinda magic you using?!"

Natsu smirked and retorted, "Fire Dragon Slayer Magic."

Shiroe raised an eyebrow with surprise and confusion. ' _Dragon Slayer? I've never even heard of magic like that._ '

"And now," Natsu began as large balls of flame collected around his hands, "it's time for you to go! Flames of my right hand! Flames of my left hand! Put them together…! Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Clasping the flame-encased fists together, they formed a massive ball of flame that he then threw at Demiqas.

Demiqas gaped as the ball of flame rushed forward too swiftly to evade, releasing a massive explosion upon impact, engulfing the area in a sea of flames.

Natsu blinked curiously as he looked around. "Huh… Did I go overboard again…?"

Naotsugu suddenly popped up from a pile of dirt he had been covered in from the blast wave and laughed loudly. "That was awesome!"

"Wh – What was that…?" Shiroe asked in disbelief.

"That was Natsu…" Lucy groaned lightly as she sat up. She then turned to Natsu, irritated. "Why do you always blow things up!?"

Natsu turned to her curiously. "Uuhh… is that a trick question…?"

Nazuna turned to Kanami. "… Are you _sure_ he isn't Ashura?"

"To be honest…" Shiroe grumbled as he wiped dirt off of his coat. "I'm not sure anymore…"

"Yeah…" Kanami muttered. "That was _totally_ something Ashura would have done… Big, loud, and explosive."

As the smoke from Natsu's attack cleared, Demiqas stood with a stumble, growling with rage.

"Oh come on!" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief. "How is he still moving!?"

"Huh…" Natsu hummed. "Guess I under did it."

"Alright you pink-haired shit…" Demiqas cursed as he stood. "You're really pissing me off." Demiqas then directed a scowl to Serara. "After this is over you little brat, I'll make you pay for causing me so much trouble."

Serara shrieked in fear before hiding behind Erza.

Natsu lowered his brow angrily at Demiqas. "… You're dead."

"As if you could –!" Demiqas began to snarl before Natsu rushed forward and planted his hand over the man's mouth.

Natsu grinned darkly as he shouted, "Fire Dragon Grip Strike!"

Demiqas' eyes widened before his torso suddenly exploded with a burst of flames.

"Weak," Natsu growled.

Lucy gaped in shock. "Okay… that was scary…"

Erza glanced to the remaining Brigandia members. "Unless the rest of you wish to follow your guild master, leave immediately."

The men immediately left, quickly.

Natsu sighed and then turned to the others. "Can we go back to Akihabara now?"

"Right…" Shiroe answered weakly as he looked at Natsu, still thinking.

* * *

As the group made their trek back to Akihabara, Natsu groaned with frustration. "So… hungry…"

"Well don't think about eating any of the food from the game," Naotsugu interjected. "It all tastes like garbage."

With a heavy pout, Nazuna grumbled, "It's been a month since I've eaten something that doesn't taste like dirt…"

"What do ya mean?" Natsu asked, confused. "Food is good! Especially fire!"

Naotsugu flicked his wrist through the air for a moment, causing a burger to suddenly appear in his hand before he handed it to Natsu.

Natsu looked at the burger curiously and then took a bite. He stopped for a moment, blinked curiously, and then spat the burger out and started dry heaving. "Why the hell did you make food out of pure mana?! That shit is tasteless!"

"Mana?" Shiroe asked with light confusion.

"Yeah, the energy used in magic. Aren't you a mage?"

"Enchanter, more specifically. But still, that's the first I've heard of this."

"You have any better ideas?" Naotsugu argued.

Nazuna nodded with a pout. "Yeah. We can't cook it, it just turns into black gunk. And I like gunk, but not that kind."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean you can't cook?"

Nyanta smirked and tapped the side of his head. "You gotta use your head, Naotsuguchi. Don't think about this like a game anymore."

"Huh?" Naotsugu muttered in confusion.

Nyanta then turned to Natsu. "Natsuchi, think you can provide me a flame?"

"What for?" Natsu retorted, suspicious.

Erza patted Natsu's shoulder. "Be nice."

Natsu sighed and then flopped to the ground before surrounding his body with fire. "There."

Nyanta then proceeded to wave his hand about for several moments before several pieces of meat and multiple wooden stakes appeared in his hands, which he then stuck in the ground around Natsu. "Now we wait."

* * *

As Nyanta left the food to cook, Nazuna's nose began twitching excitedly. "It smells… so good…"

Nyanta nodded to himself and pulled the stakes from the ground. "There. Thanks for the torch, Natsuchi." He then divided the pieces of meat up with the other Adventurers.

Nazuna looked at the food curiously and then took a bite, causing her fox ears to perk up sharply along with an elated squeal. "So good!"

"I don't believe it!" Akatsuki exclaimed as she voraciously devoured the morsel. "It's real food! With real flavor!"

Naotsugu also ate energetically. "Holy crap! This is amazing!"

Kanami gulped her bite down swiftly.

Erza suddenly stole some of Nazuna's, causing the Kitsune to growl, before biting into it. "It is quite good. Though I am afraid it has little compared to Natsu's cooking."

Akatsuki, Nazuna, and Kanami all immediately stared at Natsu.

The pink-haired teen shrunk back slightly in confusion. "Uh, what…?"

Julia snickered. "I think they want you to cook."

"Ah… Okay then. I need something good to cook first."

Right on cue, the group heard a high-pitched roar nearby.

Natsu glanced across the nearby river and saw a pack of large, blue, reptilian creatures. With a grin, he noted, "Would you look at that?"

"Uh… what are those…?" Akatsuki asked with confusion.

"They're a type of Bird Wyvern," Shiroe explained. "They're called Velociprey. And the large one in the group is the pack leader, Velocidrome."

"But I call them lunch," Natsu interjected with a feral grin as the creatures saw the group.

One of the Velocipreys then immediately leapt the wide distance across the river at the group.

"Come and get some!" Natsu challenged as he punched the beast in the chest, crushing its ribcage.

A second and third Velociprey then leapt the distance as well.

Natsu smirked and leapt into the air at them, smashing the head of one with his fist before grabbing the other by the neck and twisting suddenly, snapping its neck.

The Velocidrome roared loudly and charged at Natsu, swiping with its large claws.

Natsu ducked under its swing, smashed his knee into its chest, causing the beast to buckle, and then slammed his foot down on its head, killing it.

"Wow…" Akatsuki muttered in disbelief.

Shiroe gulped slightly. "The Velociprey and Velocidrome might not be fearsome monsters, but to slay an entire pack not just alone but with no weapons…"

Natsu dragged all the bodies over before placing them in a pile and then turned to Nyanta. "Hey, cat man, do you have any spices?"

Nyanta nodded with a smile.

"Great!"

* * *

Sometime later, Natsu stood over a fire, cooking pieces of the Velociprey's meat, and then called, "Food's ready!"

"Finally!" Kanami cheered as she and the others approached, Natsu placing all of the food on plates Nyanta gave him.

Akatsuki looked at the perfectly browned, steaming, succulent meat in disbelief, gulping with hunger. "Is this really… the same creature…?"

"Yep!" Natsu answered with a grin before furrowing his brow. "Wait… why?"

"It just looks… so good. It's hard to believe it came from that thing."

Nazuna, however, did not spare a moment and instantly took a bite of the meat before shivering with a moan. "So ggoooodd…"

Kanami took a bite and moaned lightly as well. "Yeah… I haven't eaten this good in a long time… I think I could just marry Natsu just to have this every day…"

Julia growled in annoyance. "Me first! Get in line! I'm the alpha female! Me!"

"J – Just a joke… calm down…"

Julia huffed as she turned to eat but kept a glare on Kanami. "Don't joke about that. I am Natsu's strongest woman and I will marry him first and bare his first dragonlings. No one else."

Lucy sweat lightly in exasperation. "J – Just first…?"

"How do you guys like it?" Natsu asked.

Akatsuki nodded silently as she voraciously devoured the steak.

Lucy laughed lightly. "Guess she likes it. But…" she trailed off as she looked at the steak. "Can that thing really taste good…?" She poked the piece curiously with her fork before taking a tentative bite, having to hold back a slight moan from the flavor of the food. "I – It's good… Very good…"

Natsu smiled proudly. "Thanks!"

Akatsuki quickly gobbled the remainder of her portion and then handed her plate out to Natsu. "More please!"

"Sure," Natsu answered before dropping a large piece of meat on her plate.

As Akatsuki ate excitedly, Shiroe turned to Natsu. "I'm surprised you can cook so well."

Natsu shrugged in response. "Well, I kinda had to learn how to. Mama Ama's cooking nearly kills us and Igneel kept burning things to a crisp when he tried to cook."

"Ama?" Shiroe asked before taking a sip of water.

Natsu grinned. "Yup! Amaterasu!"

Shiroe immediately spat his drink in shock.

"WHAT!?" all of the Adventurers shouted in disbelief.

Natsu tilted his head curiously. "Huh? What?"

"A – Amaterasu!?" Akatsuki questioned, not believing what she heard.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. Amaterasu. Why? Have you met her?"

Shiroe sighed and fixed his glasses on his nose. "Where we're all from, she's one of the chief deities in our nation's mythology."

"Oh. Well she _is_ a goddess."

Lucy twitched an eyebrow.

Erza glanced at her curiously. "What's wrong? Did you not know?"

"Of course I didn't!" Lucy argued. "That's absurd!"

"Really?" Juvia asked, not understanding the shock of Lucy and the Adventurers.

"So…" Nazuna began as she turned to Natsu, "you were raised by a goddess…?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. And a dragon."

"Wow…"

Shiroe furrowed his brow silently in pondering.

"Yeah," Natsu added, "they're the two that raised me."

"I can't decide if that's awesome or crazy…" Naotsugu mumbled in confusion.

Akatsuki nodded dumbly in agreement before swiftly going back to her meal.

Natsu sighed but then raised an eyebrow in remembrance and turned to Kanami. "Hey, Kana-Chan."

Kanami swallowed a bite and then turned to Natsu. "Yeah? What's up?"

"How'd you guys get pet Griffons anyway?"

"They're not really pets," Shiroe corrected. "Just mounts."

Kanami nodded in agreement and explained, "Shiroe, Nyanta, myself, and the rest of Debauchery Tea Party went on a quest a few years ago that had the griffons as the reward."

"Tea Party?" Akatsuki asked as she took another bite.

Shiroe nodded. "Yes. Kanami, Nyanta, Naotsugu, Nazuna, myself, and several others were in a guild called Debauchery Tea Party. Well, I say guild but that's not strictly accurate. We weren't an officially formed and named guild, we were closer to a large party than a guild. We just mostly went around helping other players however we could and completing quests."

Nazuna nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Best time of my life, and some of the best memories I have. And it was all thanks to the leader."

"Leader?" Erza asked curiously.

Kanami nodded. "Technically, I was denoted as the leader amongst the group, but I sorta just gave out the commands. The one who actually made the decisions was Ashura. He was also the strongest member of the guild."

Nazuna nodded, blushing lightly. "Yeah… he was awesome…"

"Yes," Shiroe interjected, "he was most certainly a skilled player."

"That's not what I was talking about, but okay."

"Yeah, but then he up and vanishes," Kanami noted sourly.

"Vanished?" Akatsuki questioned.

"What do you mean?" Erza wondered.

"A couple years ago after a big quest, he just disappeared."

"What quest?" Akatsuki asked.

Nazuna explained, "It was a quest to find a special ore deep in a cavern. We found the ore easily enough, but after leaving the cavern, this giant, red dragon showed up and Ashura chased it. He said he'd be back but… It's been almost two years now…"

"Wow…" Lucy added somberly.

Natsu raised an eyebrow in thought. "Wait, two years? But the dragons disappeared seven years ago."

Shiroe furrowed his brow in confusion. "Disappeared?"

Natsu sighed and laid back on the ground. "Well, it doesn't really matter I guess. So, how about we set off in the morning?"

Akatsuki nodded in agreement but then suddenly burped, blushing in embarrassment.

Natsu chuckled lightly and patted the top of her head. "That was a healthy one."

Akatsuki puffed her cheeks and looked to the side. "I'm not a kid…"

* * *

The next morning, the group packed their items and continued on their trek back to Akihabara. However, their travel was interrupted as rain started falling suddenly and fiercely.

"Uwah!" Lucy shrieked as they were coated with water. "Let's get out of this rain!"

As the group ran, Shiroe spotted lights nearby and nodded to himself. "There's a farm over there!"

* * *

Shortly later, the group stood inside of a large barn, with the owner of the farm, an older man with a thick beard and white hair.

Ringing his coat out, Shiroe turned to the man with a grateful smile. "Thank you for letting us wait out the storm in your barn."

The farmer laughed happily, waving a hand. "Don't mention it, it's quite alright. That storm came out of nowhere, so I wouldn't want you lot to catch any kind of cold."

Natsu nodded in understanding before shaking his hair dry. "Yeah, Juvia used to make it rain like this all the time when she was depressed."

Juvia, her porcelain white skin tinted red, flailed her arms and shouted. "Uwah! Natsu-Sama! Don't reveal that about Juvia! It's embarrassing."

"Oh, sorry Juvia," Natsu replied with a weak smile.

Lucy tugged at her blouse with annoyance. "Geez, now I'm all wet."

"Yeah…" Gray muttered lightly before glancing away from her.

Lucy huffed and covered her chest with her arms. "Pervert."

Gray stumbled lightly. "H – Huh?!"

"Hey!" Natsu growled. "Quit starin' at Lucy!"

"The hell I am!" Gray snarled.

"Yeah! You were, stripper!"

"No. I. Wasn't. Lizard!"

Erza then growled and demanded coldly, "Stop. Fighting. Now."

Both teens immediately stiffened in fear.

"Aye!" Natsu exclaimed.

"My, my," Nyanta muttered in amusement.

The farmer laughed loudly. "Well aren't you a lively bunch?"

"Aye!" Happy answered energetically.

The farmer then folded his arms as he looked at the wizards. "Hhmm… though I have to say you look familiar from somewhere."

"Oh?" Erza commented in thought.

"Hm… ah!" he suddenly exclaimed before turning to a young boy next to him. "Yunger, go and get that magazine your mother's always reading."

"Okay, Grandpa!" the boy replied happily before running back to the farm's main house.

"Magazine?" Shiroe commented in confusion before the boy returned with a copy of Sorcerer Weekly, which he immediately opened to the middle of the magazine, showing a centerfold image of Mirajane and a blonde woman in skimpy bikinis, posing seductively.

Natsu twitched an eyebrow angrily. "What… the hell… is that…?"

"U – Uh…" Bisca mumbled, uncertain what to do.

"N – Nothing…" Erza tried to redirect.

"Oooohh!" Lucy cooed as she looked at the image. "It's one of Mira and Jenny Realight! Centerfold pictures!"

The farmer grinned widely. "Yeah! You're from that Ishgaran guild with all the pretty ladies, right?!"

Natsu twitched an eyebrow and clenched his fists tightly.

"C – Come on Natsu, calm down…" Elie muttered, trying to ease Natsu.

"Damn those two are smokin' hot!" Naotsugu cheered as he looked at the picture. "I gotta go and find me some ho –!"

Akatsuki interrupted his shout by kneeing him in the face, with Natsu then proceeding to set the armored man's hair aflame.

"Owowow!" Naotsugu shouted as he ran around, trying to put the flame on his head out.

"Well, he's… possessive," Kanami muttered as Nazuna scribbled on a notepad.

Bisca put a hand on Natsu's shoulder lightly. "It's okay, calm down, Natsu."

Lucy turned to the others curiously. "What's wrong? Mira's been in Sorcerer Weekly for a couple years now."

"WHAT!?" Natsu howled.

Bisca groaned heavily. "Way to go Lucy…"

"Wh – What'd I do…?" Lucy asked, fearful and flummoxed.

"You all knew about this, didn't you!?" Natsu snarled, enraged at the revelation before him.

However, before Natsu's rage could fly any further, Nazuna immediately stepped up to him and planted her lips on his, drawing him into a deep kiss, shocking and confusing the others.

After a few moments, Natsu's body began to lose tension before he loosened and stepped back.

Nazuna smirked and licked her lips. "There, better?"

* * *

 **And there you have it! This concludes chapter ten of Embodiment of Flame. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it. If you did, be sure to leave a review. If you were confused or unsure about anything or had any questions, leave those as a review and I will do my best to address them in a reviewer response. If you did not enjoy it, I would suggest doing something you do enjoy instead, but if you do post a review, keeping it civil and focused would be appreciated. Well, that about does it for me, so until next time, bye-bye!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI**

 **Hello to all! I have returned with yet another chapter of Embodiment of Flame! And yes, I have now gone from the kick of Guardians of Earth to a kick of Embodiment of Flame. Do not ask how these happen, they just come about. So expect a few more chapters of this story over the next while. That being said, I hoped everyone enjoyed the previous chapter. Though I have no way of telling on that front yet. I also hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well. Be sure to post a review if you do, I love hearing your opinions. I would like to thank Bakuto Masaki, my coauthor, for all of his previous, current, and continuing help on stories. And now it is time to move on to the reviewer responses, there may not be many but I do enjoy the few that are there.**

 **JMK2: It is, is it not? Guess there's only one way to find out, eh?**

 **Jalis: That they don't. I see. Good to know what I provided was sufficient. Glad you liked the kiss. Erm, sort of. I guess it's safe to reveal that she will be later, but as for now that's a little complicated. Mostly due to how they met in my story.**

 **Ilikebedtimestories: Well as you can see, that hasn't slowed him down much.**

 **FanFictionHunter: Glad to see you're so excited! Hope it helped your reading quality.**

 **I thought that would be rather amusing. Well I wanted to get rid of Alzack, but Bisca still needed a teammate, so I just used Elie since she also has guns. And yeah, I assume that another Spirit would take the role if a Zodiac died or something like that. At the moment, there aren't any other replacements to the canonical Zodiacs. Yes she is. Yeah, it can sometimes get a little confusing having Julia and Juvia, but I keep them separated enough. Well in Embodiment of Flame, the two races don't differ, they're actually all one race. The dragons of Fairy Tail and the Dragon Race are all one race in my story.**

 **Well here it is, hopefully it satisfies.**

 **So, with that done, might as well move on to the main event, hm?**

* * *

Natsu, Erza, Julia, Lucy, Bisca, Elie, Juvia, Kanami, Nazuna, Akatsuki, Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Gray stood in the barn of an old farmer as a storm passed overhead.

Nazuna smirked as she stepped back from kissing Natsu. "There, better?"

"The hell'd you just do, stupid fox!?" Julia growled.

Nazuna huffed lightly. "I calmed him down. It's a special technique only the Kannagi Class has."

Shiroe sighed heavily as the tension in the room subsided, before glancing to the side at the farmer and his two children. Narrowing his eyes, he thought, "It's strange… We call the People of the Land little more than NPCs… But they're extremely human… far more than we give them credit for. I guess… that means we Adventurers are the anomalies in this world. Though… that begs the question… How…?"

* * *

The following morning, the group departed the old man's barn and quickly concluded their return trip to Akihabara.

"Yahoo!" Natsu cheered as the group walked back through the main gates. "Back in Akihabara!"

As they did, Marielle immediately came running towards them and leapt to hug Serara.

The young girl, so surprised and confused by the sudden act, dove to the side, causing the excitable blonde to latch onto Natsu instead, giggling lightly as she melted from contact with his muscles.

Julia snarled in annoyance. "You five seconds to let him go, elf."

"Muscles…" Marielle mumbled mindlessly, ignoring Julia's threat.

Julia grumbled and grabbed Marielle by the collar, throwing her off Natsu.

"Mmuusscclleess…!" she pleaded as she was tossed away.

"She's so… weird…" Lucy muttered.

"Welcome back, everyone," Henrietta greeted as she approached the group.

"Hey Henrietta!" Natsu called out happily.

Henrietta smiled as the pink-haired teen called out. "So, I assume everyone made it back safely?"

Akatsuki nodded in response. "Yes. We have."

"And we have food!" Nazuna cheered.

Henrietta blinked, perplexed. "Pardon?"

Shiroe looked around and narrowed his eyes. "Let's take this into the guild hall."

"Um, okay?"

* * *

"Serara!" a young girl with short brown hair and wolf-like ears atop her head cheered as she hugged Serara happily as she and the rest of the group entered the Crescent Moon Alliance's guild hall.

After a moment's pause, Marielle's eyes lit up with an idea. "Hey! I know, let's have a party to celebrate Serara's return!"

"What for?" Shoryu asked, pleased about Serara's return, but disappointed with Marielle's suggestion. "It's not like the food tastes like anything."

Nazuna grinned happily. "Oh how wrong you are! Ashura 2.0! Get to cooking!"

"Right!" Natsu answered energetically, the others looking at the duo confused.

* * *

Sometime later, Henrietta sat up from her desk, smelling an alluring scent through the air. "That… smells so good…"

Nazuna grinned mischievously. "If you think the smell's intoxicating, wait 'til you actually see it and taste it."

"Wait, he's cooking? _Actually_ cooking!?" Marielle exclaimed in surprise.

Akatsuki merely licked her lips with anticipation.

The door to Crescent Moon's kitchen opened as Natsu, with the help of Erza and the others, stepped out pushing several large carts filled with food.

"It's done!" Natsu announced, drawing the attention of all the others as they saw the vast assortment and variety of food on display.

"I – Impressive…" Henrietta muttered, uncertain how to take in the sight before her.

"It looks so good…" Marielle noted with mild drool, adding, "And so does the food."

"Less talk, more food," Akatsuki insisted.

"Dig in!" Natsu cheered.

Marielle took a plate of food, examined it curiously and then took a tentative bite before squealing with excitement and glee.

"Is it really that good?" Henrietta asked as she took a bite, trying her hardest to suppress the delighted moan.

Shoryu huffed in annoyance. "It can't be that good. All the food in this world su –" Shoryu began complaining, stopped as Shiroe threw a piece of streak at his mouth. Shoryu chewed the food curiously, swallowed it, and then growled with jealousy at Natsu. "Dammit…"

"This is ssoo good!" Marielle cheered. "What is it?"

"Barroth tail steak!" Natsu answered proudly.

His answer caused the entire guild to immediately stop eating, some with surprise, others with confusion, and others still with disbelief.

Natsu then pointed to a platter of sauce covered pieces of meat. "These are boneless Velociprey nuggets, and the salad is made from Dryad hair leaves."

Akatsuki examined the food curiously, uncertain how to process the information, eventually deciding to disregard it and continue eating.

Lucy remained silent, annoyance and frustration coating her face.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"Why did you make it with such weird stuff!?" Lucy demanded. "What happened to lettuce, poultry, and beef!?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow, not understanding her contention. "Why would you want to eat such weak prey?"

"It's normal food!"

Marielle, her mouth stuffed with food, argued, "I think it tastes much better."

Akatsuki, her cheeks to near bursting with food, nodded with agreement.

"This stuff is the bomb!" Naotsugu exclaimed.

"Hell yeah!" Nazuna added.

"How'd you even make this? Food always tastes so bad most of the time," Marielle requested.

"There's a trick that we Adventurers can use," Nyanta explained.

"Really?"

Nyanta nodded. "It's like real life. Instead of creating food from the menu, use raw ingredients. Prepare them, mix them, and cook them yourself. And most importantly of all, you need to have the Chef Subclass. Without that, you ain't gettin' nowhere."

"Awesome!" Kanami cheered. "I can make yummy food!"

Shiroe narrowed his eyes in thought. "I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I think it'd be best to keep this a secret for now."

"What for?" Nazuna asked before taking another bite.

"It's information I doubt many, if any, other Adventurers have. And information is power."

Erza frowned suspiciously.

"For now, let's keep this technique a secret, we can use it as leverage in case we have dealings with the other guilds." After a moment, Shiroe blinked and then turned to Natsu. "Oh, that's right, you people came here looking for something, didn't you?"

"Some _one_ ," Erza corrected. "A blacksmith named Musica. You likely refer to him as one of the People of the Land."

Shiroe adjusted his glasses, closing his eyes in thought. "Ah, yes, I've heard of him. Several of the game's larger quests a couple years ago involved him."

"Oh yeah…" Nazuna muttered in realization.

Kanami nodded. "One we went on actually caused us to cross paths with Ashura for the first time."

Shiroe nodded and then redirected, "As I said before, the city he currently lives in, Punk Street, is in the far western arm of Yamato. But to get to it you'll need to pass through the territory around Minami. As long as you keep close to the coast though, you should be able to avoid coming into conflict with Plant Hwyaden." He then turned to Kanami. "Kanami, think you can lead them there? I need to stay here and handle some matters."

Kanami grinned with a thumbs up. "Leave it to me!"

Nazuna nodded and then turned to Marielle. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to go with Natsu."

Marielle nodded with a smile. "Of course, go right ahead. We can hold things down here for a while." Her smile immediately melted into a pout. "I wish I could go though…"

Henrietta sighed and lightly chopped Marielle atop the head. "No. You're the guild master. You have responsibilities."

Marielle moaned heavily in disappointment. "I'll miss the muscles…"

Natsu grinned happily. "How about this? After I get my sword fixed, I'll stop back by Akihabara."

"Really!? You will!?"

Natsu nodded with a smile. "It's a promise!"

Kanami then turned to Natsu and the others and suggested, "Okay, let's rest here for the night and leave in the morning.

"I call Natsu!" Nazuna and Julia called out at the same time before glaring at each other.

* * *

The following morning, the members of Crescent Moon Alliance sat around a large table, eating a breakfast prepared by Natsu.

Kanami moaned happily. "You make a good breakfast, Natsu."

Natsu nodded with a smile. "Thanks. I had plenty of practice."

"After we finish eating we'll be heading out," Nazuna noted. "With any luck we should avoid Plant Hwyaden's detection."

"That is the objective," Erza added.

Julia merely nibbled slowly on an egg.

"Can't wait to have Deca back!" Natsu shouted.

"Yeah!" Kanami cheered. "… Who's Deca again?"

Natsu face-faulted from Kanami's reaction but then pulled the broken remains of Decaforce from his back and showed them to her.

Nazuna's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Now give me back my necklace!" Gray demanded as he grabbed for Rave.

"No way!" Natsu argued. "It's mine! You can't even use it!"

However, suddenly, Plue climbed out from Natsu's scarf. "Puun, puun!" the little creature shouted as it dove at Nazuna.

Natsu blinked curiously as the white creature landed on Nazuna's lap. "I guess… Plue knows you…?"

Nazuna looked at the cone-nosed animal curiously before hoisting him up by the neck and shaking him around violently. "Where the hell have you been, you damn mutt!?"

"P – Puunpuun!" he responded weakly as she shook him.

"I don't care if you're running out of air! Now tell me where Ashura ran off to!"

"Puunpuun puun puun!"

Nazuna furrowed her brow in confusion. "Sealed? What do ya mean he was sealed?! _How_ can he be sealed?!"

Plue twitched lightly and then immediately passed out.

She blinked in confusion and then gaped. "Ah crap!" She then started shaking him even more violently. "Don't die on me Plue! You're the only one that knows where my man is!"

Natsu then proceeded to take Plue straight out of the Kitsune's grasp. "I think that's enough."

Nazuna pouted angrily.

Erza sighed and then suggested, "We should get moving now. Daylight will not last long, and we need to spend as much of it walking as we can."

"Right," Kanami responded with a nod.

* * *

Shiroe watched curiously as Natsu and the others exited through Akihabara's main gate. "Akatsuki," he called out plainly.

"Yes?" Akatsuki asked as she appeared next to him in a flurry of pink light.

"I'm giving you your first real mission."

Akatsuki's eyes shined with excitement and anticipation. "R – Really?"

Shiroe nodded in response. "There's something about Natsu and Erza that concerns me. I want you to follow their group and observe them. Send me regular reports. Staying hidden from them is preferable, but if you do get spotted, make up an excuse."

"Yes, My Lord!" Akatsuki answered energetically before vanishing.

* * *

As Natsu and the others left Akihabara, Natsu noticed two girls walking into the city, their expressions downcast, as they walked in with several men, one of whom had several scars on his face. "What the…?" he muttered in confusion and worry as he noticed the group.

"Oy!" Gray called out. "Natsu, keep gawking and you'll be left behind!"

After joining with the others, Natsu questioned, "So… where do we go now?"

Kanami turned and explained, "We pretty much just keep going southwest for a while."

"Ah…"

Kanami flicked her hand through the air before a map of Yamato appeared in her grasp. Pointing to various spots on it she explained, "Now… we are here. Minami is here and where we need to go is here. The path we are taking is here."

"Th – That's so far…" Lucy groaned. "Can't we just take a train?"

Kanami put the map away and shook her head. "There aren't any in Yamato."

"S – Seriously?!"

Nazuna nodded in agreement. "Oh she's serious alright."

"Yahoo!" Natsu cheered. "A trainless nation!"

Kanami raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's with him?"

"Dragon Slayers have one primary weakness," Erza elucidated. "Extreme motion sickness."

"Well that's… new," Nazuna muttered in thought.

"Well let's get going," Kanami urged. "It'll probably take a few weeks to get there."

Lucy cried in frustration. "My legs won't survive…"

* * *

Several weeks passed as the group traveled through forests and plains of Yamato, soon passing through Minami's territory without incident and entering the lands near Punk Street. A vast desert.

"Are we there yet?" Natsu asked in frustration.

"No," Lucy responded bluntly.

"Now?" Natsu asked again.

"Holy crap it's hot here…" Gray groaned heavily.

"Take your clothes off and I deball you," Julia snarled.

Juvia stumbled lightly, sweating heavily from the heat. "Natsu-Sama… it's hot… Juvia doesn't know how much longer she can keep her magic up…"

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu hollered. "Got any cooling Spirits?"

Paling, Lucy answered weakly, "N – No… not really…"

Happy raised a hand and interjected, "Aye! She has Aquarius!"

"No!" Lucy argued vehemently. "You don't want to summon her!"

"But Juvia needs cooling!" Natsu argued sternly, not wanting to let Juvia collapse.

"Trust me, you do NOT want me to summon Aquarius!"

"Just do it! Juvia might die!"

Lucy groaned heavily. "I need water to summon her. As you can see, there isn't any here."

"Yeah right," Natsu argued dismissively.

"I don't see any, do you?!"

"We've got this," Nazuna interjected, holding up a nearly empty canteen of water, "but that's it."

Natsu immediately grabbed the canteen and dumped it on Juvia, causing the pale-skinned woman to swiftly and immediately absorb all of the water.

"Wh – What the hell…?!"

Juvia extended a hand and created a small orb of water.

Lucy flattened her brow and rebutted bluntly, "You're kidding me right? She'll kill us all if I summon her from that."

"Just do it," Julia urged.

Lucy gulped in fear. ' _She's gonna kill me…_ ' Putting Aquarius' key partially into the orb, Lucy chanted, "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!"

Aquarius appeared from a magic circle in burst of smoke, remaining silent for a moment, before scowling and grabbing Lucy by the collar. "Stupid girl! What have I told you about summoning me from puddles, dammit!?"

"Hey!" Natsu snarled angrily.

Aquarius turned to him with a growl. "Huh? The hell do you want!?"

Natsu pointed at Juvia and answered, "For you to help cool down Juvia!"

Aquarius twitched an eyebrow and then smirked with irritation. "Oh I'll cool everyone down. Water Torrent!" Raising her urn, a massive blast of water then shot from it and hit everyone.

Juvia swallowed all of the water, absorbing it swiftly.

Aquarius twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

Nazuna shook virulently, getting rid of all of the water before glancing at her tails and paling. "Nnnooo! My fluffy tails are all frizzy!"

With a groan, Lucy noted, "Great… now that I'm all wet this heat is sticking my clothes to me…"

"Hey!" Natsu shouted angrily. "That was uncalled for! I just asked for help, you don't have to be such a bitch about it!"

Aquarius growled angrily.

Lucy paled in fear. ' _Oh no! He said it!_ ' Fearful, she then immediately ducked and hid behind Erza.

"What'd you just call me, you scrawny human!?" Aquarius growled.

Snarling, Natsu retorted, "I called you a bitch, fish stick! Cuse that's how you act! Be nice and I won't!"

Kanami chuckled weakly. "He's got quite a mouth…"

"Yeah…" Nazuna added quietly before snickering. "Bet it's great at other things too…"

"Juvia can confirm that," the Water Dragon Slayer added with a sly smile.

"Indeed he does," Erza added.

Aquarius growled with rage. "Okay, that's it! You need to learn your lesson! Water Cannon!" She then fired an extremely high-pressure blast of water at Natsu.

Natsu easily dodged the blast, causing it to hit the boulder behind him, which caused it to explode. Natsu turned and saw Akatsuki, who had been hiding behind the boulder, get sent flying. "Akatsuki?!" he shouted in surprise, fear, and confusion as the blast flung her away.

"Why is she here?!" Lucy exclaimed in bewilderment.

Natsu immediately leapt up and caught Akatsuki, grabbing her with his arms, before she hit the ground. "Are you okay?!"

Aquarius huffed lightly. "Maybe next time you'll learn some manners."

Natsu growled as he set Akatsuki down and turned to Aquarius. "I'm not the one needing a lesson in manners!"

"Why you little…!" Aquarius snarled before raising her urn for another surge.

However, before she could, Natsu leapt up, slamming his head into her abdomen, knocking her to the ground and causing the released water to hit the dirt below in a large, but ultimately harmless, splash.

"Now stay down and cool off!" Natsu growled.

Aquarius coughed violently as she sat up before glaring at Natsu. "You've got some real nerve you –!"

"Shut it!" Natsu interrupted with anger. "What the hell is wrong with you!? We ask for your help and you go and yell at us for no reason! And you even attack us! I'm surprised your even allowed in the Zodiac with that attitude! How the hell did Ophi and Maxwell even let you become one!?"

Aquarius grit her teeth angrily, tears biting at just the edges of her eyes, before snapping, "Shut your damn mouth! And what do _you_ know, human?!"

Natsu responded by holding up his three Celestial Spirit keys. "I have three."

Aquarius widened her eyes and then huffed in derision. "You must be joking. _You_ are the one Lady Maxwell gave Leo's Key to?"

"Yeah. I also have Ophi and Virgo."

"Tch. Just great. Look, I haven't got the time to play with you. So unless you need anything else, I have a date."

Natsu hissed angrily. "How 'bout for you to be nice to Lucy!? I can't even believe that's what you're so bitchy about!"

"It's none of your business. I'm stuck with a master who's just a friendless, witless brat that keeps pulling me away from my boyfriend for stupid crap like preventing some Dragon Slayer from drying up like it's my business!"

Natsu narrowed his eyes and growled, getting fed up with Aquarius' insults. "It is your business as a Zodiac Spirit! You're supposed to help those that need it! Not be a miserable self-serving bitch!"

Aquarius growled and grabbed his scarf, pulling him close with a scowl. "Listen here, you annoying little brat! I am a Zodiac Celestial Spirit! I am not some slave for humans to play with or use as a tool, got that!?"

"Play with?! How is saving a life or helping people playing?! All you care about is yourself and you'll probably end up alone if this is how you treat everyone!"

Aquarius narrowed her eyes. "Well somebody has to!"

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean!?"

Aquarius flinched, pushing him away before grabbing her urn. "It's none of your business."

Natsu immediately grabbed her hand before she could teleport away. "Answer me."

Aquarius looked at him surprised before narrowing her eyes. "Let go of me."

"Not until you answer me."

"You humans wouldn't understand," Aquarius bit back before wrenching her hand from him and teleporting away, vanishing.

Natsu narrowed his eyes and then sighed heavily.

Lucy sighed remorsefully. "Sorry you all had to see that."

Natsu folded his arms in thought, he had to look deeper into the situation. "I'm going to have a talk with Ophi later."

"Uuhh…" Kanami mumbled. "What exactly _was_ that?"

"Aquarius," Lucy began, "one of the Zodiacs of the Celestial Summon Spirits."

"Oohh, you're a summoner."

Lucy nodded silently in response. "All I want is to be Aquarius' friend…"

Natsu moved close to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, okay?"

"Yeah… Come on, let's just get to Punk Street."

* * *

Eventually, the group came up to the entrance to Punk Street, a very dingy, dust-covered town, with many wooden shops and buildings arranged in rows, people carrying wide varieties of fire arms littering the premises.

"Wow!" Elie shouted in awe. "So this is Punk Street, the holy land for weapons!"

"Must… get… swords…" Erza muttered with twitching excitement.

The duo then immediately ran off into the city.

Nazuna blinked curiously as they ran away. "Well… that happened."

Natsu sighed and scratched the back of his head before turning to the others. "Come on, let's go look for Musica. Where ever he is."

"Right," Julia added in agreement. "The sooner we find him the sooner we can get to a mating bed. It'd be best if we split up to find him. I'll be with Natsu."

"No," Nazuna argued staunchly. " _I'll_ be with Natsu."

" _Me!_ " Julia argued vehemently.

Kanami walked up to Natsu smiling and remarked, "Let's go, Natsu."

Natsu nodded in agreement. "'Kay."

The duo then walked off, leaving Nazuna and Julia arguing obliviously nearby.

* * *

As they walked through the roads of Punk Street, Kanami glanced at Natsu, Plue asleep in the rolls of his scarf, and asked, "Hey, Natsu, why does Plue always live there?"

Natsu glanced back at Plue and then shrugged. "No clue. He just likes it, I guess."

"Huh…"

However, the duo suddenly stopped when they heard a loud ruckus nearby in a restaurant.

"Wonder what that's all about," Natsu muttered. "What do you think, Plue?" Glancing back to get the white creature's opinion, Natsu instantly realized he was gone. "Oh not again! Plue! Where are you?!"

"And Happy too!" Kanami added.

The two rushed into the restaurant and found the duo sat at a table, drinking wine with an old man, his long grey hair tied back and a rough, spun cloak over his shoulders.

"Ah crap!" Natsu grumbled. "He's picked up Cana's bad habits!"

The old man laughed loudly as he watched Plue down a large bottle of wine in mere seconds. "You can really drink li'l guy!"

"I'll say," Kanami commented.

"I dun' feel sho gud…" Happy blubbered as he stumbled around drunkenly.

"Happy!" Natsu snarled.

The old man turned and glanced at Kanami and Natsu and paled with shock and fear, dropping his glass in shock. "Gh – Gh – Ghost!"

"H – Huh?!" Natsu shouted emphatically. "Where!?"

The man pointed at the duo.

Natsu blinked and turned to the side, poking Kanami's chest slightly. "Nope. Pretty solid, so not a ghost."

Kanami blinked and then smacked his hand away lightly. "I'm married, so you can't touch these ones."

Natsu blinked in confusion. "You are? You don't smell married."

Kanami huffed lightly with a small blush. "I'm married _and_ I have a kid. It's just… they're both back in the real world."

"Don't you mean your world?"

"Uh, right," Kanami muttered with mild bewilderment.

"So… what are their names?" Natsu asked curiously.

"They're…" Kanami began to answer but trailed off as she furrowed her brow in thought. "They're…" Straining her mind further her eyes began to widen horror.

"K – Kanami! What's wrong?!" Natsu urged as he steadied her.

"N – No… this can't be… I… I can't remember their names…!"

The old man stood immediately, his playfully drunken face now stern. "What's wrong with her?"

Natsu tightened his fist as he held the panicking Kanami. "She can't remember her family…"

The old man narrowed his eyes as he looked around. "Come on, let's get her out of here, people are starting to stare."

* * *

The door to the old man's house flew open as he held the door for Natsu to carry a quivering Kanami in.

The old man pointed to a ragged sofa nearby. "Set her there, I'll get some water."

"Sure…" Natsu answered slowly as he set Kanami down gently.

The man walked back into the room seconds later, holding a glass of water.

Natsu nodded in gratitude and handed the water to Kanami. "Kanami, here, drink this."

Kanami nodded and drank the glass down swiftly, passing out moments later.

Natsu gasped in shock.

"Don't get worried," the old man eased as he flopped onto a chair. "It's just a minor sedative, it'll keep her asleep for a little while. With any luck, her mind will have sorted itself out by then."

"I hope you're right…" Natsu muttered in concern. Natsu then stood and turned to the man curiously. "Who are you anyway?"

The man sighed with a shrug. "I'm just an old drunkard, trying to drink himself into the grave."

"Huh?" Natsu mumbled in confusion. "Well, if you're this old, you must've lived here a long time, right?"

"That I have," the old man answered as he took another swig of wine.

"I'm looking for someone named Musica, you know him?"

The old man narrowed his eyes silently. "… What do you want him for…?"

"I need him to fix Deca," Natsu answered plainly.

"Deca?" the old man asked as he sipped his wine, just before Natsu pulled the broken Decaforce from his back, causing the old man to spit his drink. "Th – The hell…?! How'd you get this, boy?"

Natsu blinked in confusion. "Huh? An old man named Shiba. Or was it Shiva?"

The old man furrowed his brow in confusion. "Shiva?"

Natsu nodded in response.

Narrowing his eyes in thought, the old man then frowned at Natsu. "That's a lie. I know who originally owned this sword, and he wouldn't give it up unless you killed him. So I'll ask again, how'd you get this sword?"

"I already told you!" Natsu urged. "I got it from old man Shiva."

He remained silent in thought and then sighed heavily. "Fine. Give it here."

"Why should I give it to you?"

"I'm Galein Musica, the one who originally forged Decaforce and is the only one who can fix it."

"Really?!" Natsu asked excitedly. "Awesome!"

Accepting Decaforce, Galein then remarked, "Two days. It'll take two days. Don't come back until then."

Natsu turned to Kanami. "But… I can't just leave her here all alone."

"Then go rent a hotel for the two of you," Galein rebutted, mildly annoyed.

Natsu sighed in frustration. "Okay…"

* * *

"Yahoo!" Elie cheered as she walked down the road with a glum Erza. "My tonfa blasters have been upgraded!"

"Curses," Erza muttered in disappointment. "This is a town that makes guns, not swords. Why couldn't they make swords? Oh no. Natsu will not be able to get his sword fixed…"

As they walked, another group of people, the head of which was a man with long, shoulder-length brown hair and matching brown eyes, with metal studs in his forehead, wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, a necklace of silver beads with a skull in the center, white pants, and black shoes.

"Come on, Musica," a man with a green Mohawk groaned, "we really need to find a new job to do."

The man, Musica, waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I'm workin' on it. And it will be a good one."

Elie and Erza looked at each other confused. ' _Musica?_ '

"Think it's him?" Elie asked.

"It may be," Erza answered curiously. Walking up to the brunette man, she then asked, "Excuse me, is your name Musica?"

He turned to her in thought before his eyes widened as he looked at her. "Y – Yeah…"

Elie then walked up next to Erza with a smile. "We need to talk to you. Do you have a moment?"

Musica blinked in thought before smirking and turning back to his group. "You guys go on ahead. I'm about to score."

Erza narrowed her eyes as a sword appeared in her hand in a flash of light which she then pointed at Musica's head. "We are not interested in you like that. I would like to make that clear."

Musica paled in fear. "S – Sorry, my bad…"

"Glad you understand," Erza said with spite as her sword vanished.

Gulping in fear, Musica then asked, "S – So, what do you two ladies need…?"

"We are looking for a Legendary Blacksmith named Musica to fix the sword belonging to our friend."

Musica raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Sorry, I'm no blacksmith."

"Elie, Erza!" Natsu suddenly shouted as he ran up to the group, carrying the unconscious Kanami on his back.

"Natsu?" Erza asked as she turned to him and then noticed Kanami on his back. "What happened?"

"Huh?" Natsu asked as he stepped up to them before realizing what she was referring to. "Oh, Kana-Chan had a panic attack about something."

Musica sighed in annoyance and turned to leave. "If it's all the same to you, I think I'll take my leave."

However, as he left, Erza immediately turned and put a hand on his shoulder with a displeased frown. "Where are you going?"

Musica began sweating heavily with fear. "N – Nowhere…"

Natsu then noticed Musica and raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Who's this guy?"

"Musica, the blacksmith," Elie explained with a smile.

Musica sighed in annoyance. "Look doll, I already said I'm not –" Musica was suddenly interrupted as Natsu punched him in the face. Snarling, Musica shot back, "What the hell was that for!?"

Natsu huffed in annoyance. "Reflex on pervs hitting on my friends."

"Well you might want to rein in that reflex before someone knocks your teeth in."

Erza shot a deep glare at the brown-haired man. "Are you threatening him?"

"He punches me again I am."

Natsu huffed in irritation before turning to the others. "Besides, I already met Musica."

"Really?" Nazuna asked as she and Julia approached the group. Nazuna then noticed Kanami waking up slowly as Natsu set her down. "What happened to her?"

"She had a freak out earlier." He then turned his attention to Kanami. "Hey, Kana-Chan, how are you feeling?"

"Better…" Kanami muttered before standing. "I think…"

"Well just try not to think about it for now. We found Musica already anyway."

"No, you didn't," Musica argued. "My name's Hamrio Musica, and I'm the leader of a gang called Silver Rhythm."

"Then you aren't the Musica we're looking for," Nazuna remarked.

"Which I already said!" Natsu urged.

Hamrio sighed and then looked around at the girls surrounding Natsu. ' _Damn, how many babes is this jackass with?!_ '

"And I found the blacksmith! Well, Kana-Chan and me, but she got a bit… hysterical about something. He said he'll get Deca fixed in two days."

Hamrio sighed and argued, "Sorry pal, there's only one Musica, me."

"No way!" Natsu snarled. "I gave the old man my sword and he said he'd fix it!"

Hamrio then laughed loudly. "Let that be a lesson, stupid. You just gave that sword of yours to a fake. I'm the only Musica left."

"H – Huh…?"

"You've been conned. In case you didn't know, this town's crawling with Demon Card's goons."

Natsu snarled with irritation before Bisca and the others joined the group.

Hamrio turned and gaped in disbelief. "Damn kid, how many honeys you traveling with?"

Akatsuki then proceeded to immediately drop kick Hamrio.

"The hell!? Now I'm getting hit by grade-schoolers!?"

"No luck on that blacksmith," Gray remarked. He then turned to Hamrio and asked, "And who's this idiot?"

"Not the Musica we're looking for," Nazuna answered before Musica could, annoying the man.

"Hey!" a new voice shouted.

The group turned and watched as a tall, heavyset man with a green Mohawk and several bolts in his head walked up to the group with many grunts from Demon Card with him.

"So you're the Rave Master, eh?" the man asked angrily.

Natsu looked at the man confused, and annoyed. "Uumm… and you are… who?"

"I'm Bis," the overweight man answered shortly before growling, "The old man said you have Rave. Hand it over."

Natsu furrowed his brow in annoyance. "I don't have it, Dis."

"It's Bis!" he growled before throwing out large clamps that slammed everyone against the wall before the bolts in his head launched, pinning everyone against the wall.

"What the hell?!" Natsu yelled as he tried to pry his arms from the clamps unsuccessfully.

Bis turned to the other Demon Card members and ordered, "Search them for Rave."

"With pleasure," several of the goons responded gleefully as they approached the group.

One of the goons walked up to Bisca and snickered as he looked her over. "I'll start with you."

"Don't touch her!" Natsu snarled as his body began to heat up.

"Heh, like you can stop me."

Natsu then immediately snapped his arms free, the clamps melting from the heat of his body.

Another of the goons gaped as he began lifting Lucy's skirt, only for Natsu to punch him through a wall.

Bis growled, enraged. "You son of a…! Kill them all!"

Juvia's body then liquefied before she was freed from the cuffs and then reformed, ready to fight. "Water Dragon Roar!" she shouted before sending a torrent of water at several of the goons, washing them away.

Julia's own body then began to heat up before the clamps on her wrists melted as well.

Kanami then flinched, wrenching her own arms from the wall.

Nazuna then extended several of her tails out, knocking out more of the soldiers.

"Yo, Pis!" Natsu shouted.

"It's Bis!" the large man hollered before sending several bolts flying at Natsu, which the pink-haired teen immediately melted with torrent of flames.

The clamps around Gray's arms then froze, allowing him to snap them and break free.

Bis stepped back in shock. "J – Just who the hell _are_ you people!?"

Natsu grinned and shot back, "We're wizards of Fairy Tail! And we are going to kick your ass! Fire Dragon Roar!" Bis and the rest of his group were then consumed by flames and knocked down. "Tch, he was weak."

The remaining grunts under Bis then prepared to fight as well, but before they could approach, Elie raised and fired her tonfa blasters. However, rather than basic shots, the shots fired exploded violently on impact.

Gray gaped in disbelief.

"What the hell!?" Bisca exclaimed in shock.

Elie blinked in surprise and then laughed weakly. "Oops… I guess the guy overpowered them a little…"

"A little!?" Bisca snarled.

Elie laughed weakly again. "Yeah… I think I'm going to head back to that shop and get my weapons fixed."

"Good!" Bisca retorted angrily, knocking Elie on the head lightly. "We don't need you blowing up buildings on a job! Natsu does that already!"

"Hey, I'm not that bad…" Natsu grumbled.

"You sneezed and blew up an inn," Erza argued.

"You burned down a mansion," Lucy chided.

"You destroyed Hargeon's port," Happy reminded.

"That was Lucy and you know it!" Natsu argued angrily.

"Me!?" Lucy yelled in annoyance and disbelief.

"Yeah! You caused that tidal wave that smashed the ship into it!"

Elie sighed and walked away as the others argued.

Kanami blinked curiously as the brunette walked away.

* * *

Shortly later, Natsu and the others walked through Punk Street, attempting to find Elie after she had run off.

"Elie!" Natsu howled as he looked around. "Elie! Where'd you go!?"

Musica sighed before asking, "Any idea where she went?"

"Uuhh… which way's the gun shop?"

"I know which she likely went to," Erza interjected. "Follow me."

"Right!"

* * *

After Erza led the group to the store in question, Natsu stopped when he heard the sounds of a struggle from within.

Natsu slammed the door open suddenly and saw a tall man with short, grey-purple hair that was swept back, prominent sideburns moving down his face, bright red eyes, wearing a long, brown coat with a Demon Card emblem on one side, a beige shirt and matching beige pants, along with tall boots, and a sword slung along his back, holding Elie hostage, his arm wrapped around her neck.

"Elie!" Natsu shouted frantically. "Let her go!"

However, before he could lunge at the man, he put his sword against Elie's throat. "Now, now. Don't get too close. If you do, I'll lop off this pretty girl's head."

Natsu growled angrily, having to hold himself back from throwing flames at the man.

"And just who the hell are you?" Gray demanded.

The man grinned maniacally. "General Commander Lance, of the seventeenth Demon Card Unit. And you, pinky, have something I want."

"Then let her go!" Natsu commanded.

Lance snickered lightly. "I have a better idea. I'll give you two hours. If you don't show up at my house with Rave by then, I'll cut the girl into pieces."

"Damn you!" Natsu howled before lunging at Lance.

Lance retaliated by swinging his sword, causing a large pack of wolves to emerge and charge at Natsu.

Natsu swung a flame-encased fist as the beasts charged, causing them to suddenly vanish. When they did, his eyes widened when he saw that Lance and Elie had both vanished, causing Natsu to release a loud, anger-filled roar.

"Well that's just great," Musica grumbled. "So now what?"

"I'm going to go and get Rave before I rip that bastard in half," Natsu snarled.

"Wait, Natsu," Erza urged. "You should not go off alone. We should split into two teams."

Kanami nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Half of us go to try and rescue Elie while the others go to deal with getting Rave."

"I'll go and confront Lance," Musica urged.

Gray nodded and added, "I'll go with you."

"I shall come and help as well," Akatsuki interjected.

"I call Natsu!" Nazuna and Julia called out simultaneously before glaring at each other.

"Elie's my teammate," Bisca remarked before readying one of her pistols, "so I'll be rescuing her."

"Juvia goes with Natsu-Sama," Juvia interrupted, raising a hand.

Erza nodded in understanding. "Then I shall go to aid with the rescue."

* * *

Natsu, Julia, Nazuna, Kanami, Juvia, Lucy, Plue, and Happy made their way to Galein's house swiftly, prepared to take back Rave.

"So…" Lucy muttered, "this is it?"

Natsu, without responding, slammed the front door open. "Old man! You in here?!"

Galein, drunk as before, walked up to the door irritated. "Came back already, eh? Guess you wanted to see if I was lying, huh?"

Natsu shook his head in response. "I suspected you may have lied for a minute but I don't take you for a liar. You don't smell like one, and I need Rave. And I need you to fix Decaforce in two hours."

Galein blinked in thought before laughing loudly. "Young fool! I haven't forged so much as a spoon in fifteen years, and you want me to forge an entire sword in two hours?! Get lost." He then grabbed the broken Decaforce and tossed it to Natsu, along with Rave. "I was just gonna sell the damn thing anyway."

Nazuna furrowed her brow in confusion. ' _Fifteen years?_ '

Natsu hissed angrily. "Fine. Then I'll stop Lance with or without he sword."

Galein widened his eyes before taking Decaforce from Natsu's grasp.

"Hey!" Natsu snarled.

Galein looked at the sword in thought before looking at Natsu. "You seriously intend to go up against Lance?"

Natsu nodded firmly. "Yeah. The bastard's threatening my friends."

Galein narrowed his eyes. ' _This kid… Is he really…?_ ' He then looked at Natsu once more. "I don't know if you're extremely brave or just stupid. But I can tell, you've got that same fire in your eyes as an old friend of mine. And if you're anything like him, then I know nothing I say will stop you. So maybe… I can help put an end to this and put down some ghosts from my past."

"Ghosts…?" Lucy asked with worry.

Galein walked to the corner table of his home and grabbed the bottle of sake sitting on it, popped the cork out, and dumped the contents into a bucket. "I never would've imagined this day would come…" He then grabbed a thick, heavy brown coat from a closet, threw it over his shoulders, and pulled his hair back.

Nazuna pouted. "You could have given the sake to me…"

"I'd given up on fighting back, so I drowned myself in booze and laid down like a dog for Demon Card. But now, there _is_ a battle I can fight. For the first time in fifteen long years, I'm going to forge a sword. I will stake the name of Musica on it!"

* * *

Lance sat in a large throne room, Elie chained to the wall next to him, sitting silently, tapping the end of his sword against the ground repeatedly.

"I'm bored…" Elie groaned.

"Shut up," Lance growled.

"Hey, wanna play a game?"

"Shut up."

Elie pouted. "Aaww, come on. Anything. Ooh, how about a word game? I say a word, and then you start a new word with the last letter of that word? I'll start. Plue."

Lance immediately stood up and put his sword to Elie's throat, scowling. "Shut. Up."

Elie gulped in fear. "O – Okay…"

Lance snarled and sat back down. "Where is that brat? It's already been an hour."

* * *

Back at Galein's house, Natsu and the others waited as Galein attempted to reforge Decaforce's shattered blade.

"Is it done yet?" Julia asked impatiently.

"Give an old man a break," Galein grumbled back as he hammered the metal. "It _has_ been fifteen years since I last worked with metal. And even then it took me two days to repair a broken sword. To do it in just over an hour… Well let's hope I've got a miracle on my side."

Julia silently pointed at Natsu.

"About that," Nazuna interjected. "Something doesn't fit."

"Hm?" Galein hummed as he worked.

"You say it's been fifteen years since you forged a sword, but I remember you making one four years ago."

Galein stopped and looked at her puzzled. "What are you talking about? I haven't seen you two in forty years."

Kanami furrowed her brow before a realization hit her. "… Oh, I see what's going on here…"

"Huh?" Nazuna mumbled.

"We've gotten a little mixed up. Don't you remember? Time flows a little differently in Elder Tale than in the real world."

Nazuna blinked curiously and then furrowed her brow curiously. "Hm… ah! Yeah, you're right."

Kanami folded her arms in thought. "Hhmm… Shiroe explained it to me once… One hour in Elder Tale is five minutes in our world, one day is two hours… which means… one year is a month for us. So four of our years is…" Kanami counted silently in her head for several moments. "Ah! It'd be forty-eight years in this world."

Natsu flattened his brow. "Man, you guys are old."

Kanami immediately punched him atop the head.

"Gah! I thought you guys would get sliced up if you hit me!"

"Only in main cities," Nazuna corrected. "A Podunk town like this would never have the Royal Guard."

"Huh…? Whatever. Hey, old man, think you'll make it?"

Galein nodded in response. "Don't worry, I'll make it. I'm giving the sword a strong core first, so it won't break again. If something has a strong core, it'll be harder to break. That's true of swords and people."

Natsu looked at Plue curiously. "I bet Plue's nose would break easily."

"Then it has a weak core!" Galein argued angrily.

* * *

Elsewhere, Erza, Akatsuki, Bisca, Gray, and Musica stood outside of Lance's mansion, waiting.

Musica glanced down at his watch and grumbled, "Dammit Natsu, what's taking you?"

"Probably lost," Gray chided. "Again."

Erza stood nearby, tapping her foot impatiently.

Bisca frowned with worry. "This is bad. We've only got half an hour left."

Erza tightened her fists angrily. "If he is not here soon, I am heading in myself."

Bisca then stiffened as she felt a familiar, metallic sensation against the back of her head.

Behind her, one of Lance's underlings stood with a gun pressed against her head before he announced, "None o' ya move of greeny gets a new breathing hole."

Bisca twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

Musica frowned in disapproval. "C'mon, the least you could do is threaten me and not the pretty lady."

The goon then saw Musica and gaped, shrieking, "Y – Y – You're the leader of Silver Rhythm! D – Did you come here to steal from us?!"

Bisca sighed. "Oh great… the idiot's a thief…"

"INTRUDERS!"

Bisca hissed and then swiftly crouched down and swung her leg up and back, slamming it into the goon's groin.

Almost immediately, dozens more soldiers began pouring out from Lance's mansion.

"Just great. There goes stealth," Bisca grumbled before a rocket launcher appeared in her grasp in a flash of light.

"What the hell!?" Musica shouted in disbelief.

"Piss off!" Bisca shouted before firing the rocket launcher, consuming all of the grunts in a massive conflagration.

Akatsuki gaped in shock. "Whoa…"

Musica smirked and then cracked his knuckles. "Well, since they already know we're here, let's go kick this guy's ass."

Erza immediately summoned multiple blades and nodded in agreement. "Right."

* * *

Lance glanced up and then smirked as Erza and the others walked in. "How nice of you join us."

Bisca glared before Musica threw out a knife, cutting the chains holding Elie.

"Freedom!" Elie exclaimed as she rubbed her sore wrists. "Thanks weirdo!"

Musica stumbled weakly with an annoyed smile. "R – Right… He didn't do anything funny, did he?"

Elie huffed. "He totally tried to look down my shirt!"

"Be sure to tell Natsu when he gets here," Bisca remarked.

Lance growled and shot a glare at Elie.

Elie shrunk back at the scowl. "Eek! Just kidding! Yeesh, learn how to take a joke."

Erza and Bisca merely sighed in exasperation.

Lance snarled and threatened, "Keep it up girl, and I'll chop you apart toes first."

"Man, you're way too serious," Elie groaned.

Lance sighed and then turned to Erza and the others, annoyed. "I have no business with any of you. Where is the Rave Master?"

"Late," Bisca noted.

Suddenly, Bis ran into the mansion, burned from Natsu's previous attacks. "Boss! This is bad! Someone's beat everyone up!" Bis then blinked and turned to Erza and the others and gaped. "Hey! You're the jerks who beat me up!"

Bisca blinked in confusion and then pointed at Bis. "Hey… you're that Lis guy."

"It's Bis!" the heavyset man corrected angrily.

Lance hissed in irritation. "Tch. That's not good to hear Bis, that you lost to these weaklings. Deal with them. And depending on how well you do, I'll deal with you afterward."

Bis stiffened fearfully. "Y – Yes, sir!" He then turned and pointed to one of the other soldiers in the room. "You! Get me the Crank Master Three Thousand!"

"That…" Gray muttered, "doesn't sound nice…"

The grunt then returned with a large, yellow piece of machinery that he strapped to Bis' arm, with three drills on the end. "I'm gonna kill you jerks!" Bis growled.

Erza looked at the machine in thought. "Hhmm… I will need to preserve that so I can give it to Natsu."

As the drills started spinning before rotating around one another, Bis shouted, "Time to die!"

Gray put his right fist into his open left palm, before thrusting both hands forward and shouting, "Ice-Make: Lance!" A large series of spears then shot from a magic circle, flying straight towards Bis.

Bis grinned before thrusting the machine forward, shattering the spears on contact.

"Huh…"

Erza then stepped forward as two swords appeared in her grasp. "Let me handle this."

"I'll grind you into a pulp!" Bis growled before charging at her.

Erza narrowed her eyes and then immediately dashed past Bis, surprising and confusing him, before he suddenly collapsed in a heap. Erza sighed before her blades vanished. "There, finished with Nis."

Bis groaned before standing up weakly. "It's… Bis…" However, before he could stand fully, Lance's sword pierced through his torso, killing him instantly before he dropped to the ground.

Lance hissed in annoyance as he pulled his sword from Bis' body. "Useless pawn. Can't even kill one girl."

Erza narrowed her eyes angrily. "He was your ally!"

Lance huffed in amusement. "He was a pawn." After kicking Bis' body away, he added, "And a useless one at that."

* * *

Galein hammered furiously at Decaforce as Natsu and the others stood impatiently behind him. "Natsu…" Galein muttered slowly.

"Yeah?" Natsu asked, slightly confused.

"Back when I worked as a blacksmith, I lived happily with my family."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. "What's with the backstory all of a sudden?"

"Because… my despair started with the sword I crafted… for Lance."

"Huh?"

"I forged a sword… the Beast Sword, for Lance. A sword he then immediately used to slaughter my family."

"Wow… ungrateful bastard."

As Galein continued to speak, tears began rolling down his face. "My family… slaughtered by my own handiwork…"

"Galein…" Nazuna mumbled somberly as she listened to his story with the others.

"That's bull," Natsu argued bluntly. "Your work didn't slaughter them. Lance did."

Galein grit his teeth as he continued, "With the sword I made. Tell me, do you know what it feels like to know you were involved in your family's own massacre…?"

"I'm sorry, I don't."

"Tell me something, Natsu," Galein requested as he stamped a large, musical note shaped mark on the finished blade of Decaforce before handing it to Natsu.

"What is it?"

"Does the name Resha mean anything to you?"

"Resha? Hhmm… Nope. Nada."

Nazuna frowned slightly.

"Why? Should she?"

Galein blinked slightly before sighing. "Oh. No. It's nothing." He then tightened his fists desperately. "Please… Natsu… destroy that cursed sword I made…"

Natsu frowned in thought for a moment. "… Okay, I will."

Lucy then immediately rushed into the room. "Natsu! It's almost five o'clock!"

"Ah crap!" Natsu snarled as he slung Decaforce over his back. "I gotta go!"

"Wait!" Galein urged. "There's something you need to know first."

* * *

 **And there you have it folks! That puts this chapter to bed. I sincerely hope you all enjoyed it. If you did, be sure to post a review letting me know what you though of it. If you were confused or unsure about anything or simply had questions, be sure to post a review about those as well and I will do what I can to address them. Unfortunately I cannot provide information about future harem members or future events in the story seeing as that would be spoilers, so do bear that in mind. If you did not like the chapter, however, I would recommend you go and find something you _do_ like and do that. If you must post a review, though, try to keep a tight focus. Well, nothing else to say here, so I suppose I'll see you in the next chapter, bye-bye!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII**

 **Greetings and salutations to all my wonderful readers! I know it has been a little while since the previous chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it all the same. I also hope you enjoy this chapter, so be sure to post a review if you do. That said, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with this story. Now, it is time for reviewer responses!**

 **Emerald Rose nee Potter: Thank you. Here it is.**

 **Kevin: Yes, Veronica is in.**

 **correnhimself316: Is it? It most certainly does. That is... quite the idea. Sadly it is not the case.**

 **Haha!**

 **Yup, mindfuck grande. Maybe. Maybe not. Yes, the girls of Log Horizon are absurdly hot.**

 **Jalis: Yeah. The sheer size of Demon Card means that its members likely aren't to be powerful. Oh?**

 **JMK2: You certainly will later.**

 **FanFictionHunter: Yes, Juvia might hurt me if I don't give her a lemon soon. Who knows?**

 **I see. I can try that.**

 **hornofdesolation: No, that's not an accurate relation.**

 **Phew! That is quite a long reviewer response. Now it is time to move on to the main event.**

 **WARNING: There is a lemon in this chapter.**

* * *

Lucy then immediately rushed into the room. "Natsu! It's almost five o'clock!"

"Ah crap!" Natsu snarled as he slung Decaforce over his back. "I gotta go!"

"Wait!" Galein urged. "There's something you need to know first."

Natsu stopped and turned to him. "Huh?"

"That sword is different. Every sword I make is. I have the ability to imbue swords with power. Lance's can cast illusions. Whenever it is swung, it releases phantom beasts to lunge at his target. So you need to be careful."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why? This will be easy! Besides, it doesn't mean that makes the sword evil. Just means it's with a bad man. So I'm gonna crush its wielder."

* * *

At Lance's estate, Erza and the others stood silently. "Where is he?"

Lance smirked and questioned, "Ready to dance, children?"

"Yeah, yeah," Musica grumbled.

Elie tilted her head in confusion. "Dance? Is that a bug?"

"You really think you can take us all on?"

Lance smirked and swung his sword lazily. "Of course I can. Although, I have a promise to keep first."

Erza narrowed her eyes and summoned a blade. "Like I would allow you to kill her."

Lance huffed in derision. "I don't like to break appointments. It's already past five o'clock. So time to di –"

However, before Lance could finish his sentence, Natsu burst through the door. "Oy, Lanis! I'm here!"

Lance grinned madly. "Perfect timing. And it's Lance you little shit."

"Natsu!" Elie cheered.

"You're late, jackass," Musica chided.

Natsu twitched an eyebrow and retorted, "Don't blame me! Old Man Musica took his damn time reforging Deca!"

Lance looked over Natsu in confusion. "So you're the Rave Master?"

Natsu tilted his head in mild confusion. "I guess? Point is, you're the bastard I'm gonna beat down!"

Lance cackled loudly. "Oh really?! Sounds fun!"

Natsu blinked in thought. "You must be a masochist like Erza."

Lucy stiffened and slowly slinked away from the redhead.

Erza stiffened as her face turned red and rebutted, "D – Do not say such things out loud, Natsu!"

"Wow…" Nazuna mumbled in surprise. "She's a total sub…"

Musica frowned and noted, "I don't know how strong your friend is, but Lance isn't weak. He's going to need some help."

Natsu shook his head as withdrew Decaforce. "No. I'll defeat him myself. I made a promise to old man Musica. Besides, I beat Shuda. How hard can a grunt be?"

Lance huffed and readied his sword. "Who cares? Die!" He then swung his blade down, causing more illusory beasts to appear.

Natsu smirked before black flames burst from Decaforce and destroyed the illusions.

Lance widened his eyes in disbelief. "Wh – What?! Th – That's impossible!"

Natsu smirked and retorted, "Your attacks are just illusions. My flames eat them!"

Lance grit his teeth angrily. "No… no!"

"This will be easy!" Natsu bellowed before charging.

Lance panicked, backing away from Natsu, and swung his blade again, sending out more beasts.

Natsu's flames burned the monsters away before he sent a punch at Lance's face.

Lance growled as he slid back and swung his sword once more, summoning more beasts, one of which managed to bite Natsu's leg.

"The hell?" Natsu growled before the monster vanished.

Lance once more cackled in amusement. "That's my Dark Bring, Real Moment! It makes my illusions real!"

Gray sighed lightly. "Wrong choice of creature…"

Natsu furrowed his brow in thought for a moment. "Um… what's a Dark Bring?"

The entire room face-faulted in disbelief.

Lance growled and pointed at the purple jewel in his blade. "This, you moron! How can you call yourself the Rave Master if you don't even know what Dark Bring are?!"

Natsu huffed and retorted, "I don't remember ever calling myself the Rave Master! I've never even been to a Rave!"

The large dragon then lunged at Natsu.

Natsu smirked and took in a deep breath. "Flame God Bellow!" he howled before sending a torrent of black flames at the dragon, completely vaporizing it.

"Got you!" Lance shouted as he charged at Natsu from the side.

Natsu backed up slightly, dodging Lance's lunge, and grabbed his blade.

"Did that idiot just grab it with his bare hand!?" Musica shouted in disbelief.

"I would," Kanami noted.

Musica turned to her flatly and retorted, "Well you're quite obviously insane so I'm not surprised."

Natsu narrowed his eyes and then easily snapped the blade in twain.

Lance paled as his eyes widened in disbelief.

Natsu then stowed Decaforce. "Now that your toy is gone," he noted before grinning as he slammed his fists together, "time to beat you down the old fashioned way!"

Lance stumbled back in shock before dropping his sword. "No… no, no! This can't be happening!"

"Well here's your reality check!" Natsu howled before punching Lance in the face, sending him flying back.

The doors to the room suddenly swung open as Galein rushed in, sweating and huffing.

"The hell?" Musica mumbled lightly.

Galein stopped, his hands on his knees as he huffed in exhaustion. "… N – Natsu…! I need to…" he trailed off as he saw the Beast Sword broken and Natsu in the midst of repeatedly punching Lance in the face.

"I'm a little busy here, can't ya see?" Natsu asked as he held Lance by the collar.

"… Eh…? Wait… how did you… beat him so easily?"

Natsu huffed as he dropped Lance and retorted, "All he had was those illusions and they burn fast."

At that moment, another one of Demon Card's soldiers barged into the room, frantic. "M – Master Lance! Bad news! The Empire's… here…" the man trailed off as he saw Lance and the other soldiers totally defeated.

Natsu merely looked at the man before sniffling in boredom.

"Oh shit… uh… you all didn't see me!" the soldier shouted before running away.

Lance suddenly began laughing with insanity.

"He's snapped…" Lucy mumbled.

"Looks like I don't need to worry about killing you!" Lance shouted as he cackled. "If the Empire's here they'll do it for me!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean, Mance?"

However, before Lance could answer, the soldier that had rushed in before suddenly came flying back and hit the wall, impaled by several large spikes of ice.

Julia flattened her brow in annoyance. "Ah shit."

Lucy gulped in fear. "Please tell me Gray did that…"

"I'm right here…" Gray muttered. "And my ice isn't that strong…"

"This is General Jade of the Empire! Open the door immediately, Lance of Demon Card!" a new voice shouted.

Natsu and Julia both blinked in confusion. "Jade?"

The entire group turned and saw a large gathering of soldiers enter the area. The leader of which was a tall man with elbow-length, messy blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, plain green eyes, with a blue mark under the left eye, wearing extravagant blue armor with a long, tan cape that had a large red mark on the back.

Julia blinked in confusion. "This is awkward…"

The man looked over Natsu's group and demanded, "Who are you people?"

"We're Fairy Tail," Gray answered.

The man narrowed his eyes. "I see. You're all coming with us for questioning."

Lucy stumbled back in shock. "H – Huh?! But we didn't do anything!"

"I have no way to verify that yet. Now, you can make this easy, or we can bring you in by force."

However, a new figure walked up to the man. "I'd rather get straight to using force, General Jade," said a tall, beautiful woman with long, knee-length, light blue hair, her fringe hanging down, curling around her dark blue eyes, wearing a short, tight, white, hip-length dress that tightly hugged her figure, showing a small amount of her sizable cleavage, a complex mark just above her breasts on her collarbone, with black sleeves, a pleated skirt, two long, dark blue tufts of fur hanging off her shoulders, and thigh-high, high-heeled boots with black cuffs. "It's far easier to question people who can't run."

Natsu narrowed his eyes and tensed as he saw the woman.

The armored man, Jade, sighed in frustration and turned to the woman. "I don't need you butchering them again, Esdeath."

As the others spoke, the battered Lance attempted to crawl to safety. However, before he could get away, Esdeath swung her arms, sending multiple large spikes of ice that nailed him to the ground.

Esdeath smirked as she looked at the man. "You're not getting away, you need to be punished for what you've done."

Jade sighed lightly and then turned back to the group. "Natsu, Julia, why are you here?"

"Fixing my sword and then beating up that guy," Natsu said before stopping to point at the pinned Lance, "because he kidnapped my friend."

Gray frowned in confusion and questioned, "You guys know this weirdo?"

Julia sighed and explained, "He's Jegan's older brother."

Lucy gaped in disbelief. "That freak has a brother!?"

Esdeath frowned as she folded her arms under her cleavage. "Are we going to stand around all day talking, General, or are you actually going to bring them in for questioning?" Her lips curling up lightly in a smirk, she added, "Or do I need to do it?"

Lucy laughed weakly and suggested, "How about we just leave?"

Esdeath responded by snapping her fingers, causing the room to become instantly encased in ice, preventing the group from escaping. "That's not happening."

Natsu growled and slammed his fists together, encasing them in flames.

Esdeath smirked with excitement. "So you want to fight, hm?"

Jade sighed in exasperation. "Great, I can't stop her now." He then turned to the soldiers behind him. "All of you, wait outside."

The soldiers all saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Natsu immediately charged at Esdeath, his fists raised.

Esdeath raised an arm as he charged and sent a blast of ice soaring at him, Natsu retaliated by swinging his fist forward. However, when the blast hit him, he was sent flying back against the wall with enough force to crack it.

Esdeath smirked confidently but frowned slightly as Natsu pulled himself from the wall.

Natsu shook his head lightly and then grinned. "Whoa! That blast packed a punch! Way more than what Stripper can do!"

Esdeath blinked in thought and then grinned widely. "It looks like I may actually get to enjoy myself."

Natsu returned her grin with a feral grin of his own. "I was thinking the same thing!"

"Oh great…" Gray grumbled. "Another battle maniac…"

Esdeath immediately surrounded her fists with freezing air and then took a deep breath. "Ice Dragon Roar!" she shouted before a powerful stream of ice shot at Natsu.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu retaliated with a blast of flames, causing the two streams to collide, sending steam in all directions.

Esdeath's grin widened as the steam cleared.

Natsu wasted no time charging at her. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

"Ice Dragon Iron Fist!" Esdeath shouted as she threw a punch in return.

A powerful explosion shot through the room from the collision.

"Wow!" Happy exclaimed in shock.

"This is quite the battle," Erza commented.

Julia nodded in response. "Of course. It's a battle between two dragons."

Natsu jumped back from Esdeath's attack and shot a blast of flame at her.

Esdeath fired a blast of ice to block the attack and then charged with an ice-encased fist.

Natsu charged with a flaming fist, however, she smirked and leaned to the side, dodging his strike, and then grabbed him by the throat, causing ice to begin enveloping his body. Natsu growled and began surging heat through his body.

Esdeath smirked before slamming a foot into his abdomen, sending him at the wall, before dashing forward and pinning him to the wall. "You're the first man to make me this excited. I hope you've got good stamina."

Lucy flattened her brow incredulously. "Is she talking about fighting or sex…?"

Erza raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Is there a difference?"

"… I am surrounded by perverts…"

"I know what you mean," Gray muttered.

"Put your shirt back on!"

Natsu grinned and retorted, "Stamina? I got more than enough! I'll keep going 'til you pass out!" He then slammed his feet into her abdomen, sending her flying back.

Esdeath caught herself as she slid and then sent large spikes of ice flying.

Natsu retaliated with a wall of flame to destroy the spikes, just in time to see Esdeath right next to him, grinning madly. He swung out at her but she grabbed his arm, stopping his attack. Snarling, he tried to kick her again, but she wrapped her leg around his to stop him. Natsu growled in frustration.

Esdeath then pressed herself against Natsu with a lewd smirk, causing Julia to growl angrily. She then pressed her lips against his firmly.

"EEEHHH!?" the others shouted in shock.

Julia growled and shouted, "You fucking bitch!"

Natsu blinked in surprise.

Jade slapped a hand over his face in frustration.

Musica blinked and turned to him in confusion. "Is she always like this?"

"Dragon females are always like this…" Jade groaned.

Nazuna pouted and remarked, "I want in on this."

Julia snarled and took a deep breath.

Lucy paled and begged, "W – Wait! Don't do it!"

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Julia howled, sending a torrent of fire at Esdeath, whom merely raised a hand and sent a stream of ice out to stop Julia's attack. Growling, Julia then charged at the blue-haired woman.

Lucy gulped and muttered, "This is about to get messy, isn't it…?"

"Yes," Erza answered.

Esdeath glanced to the side as Julia charged, Natsu paling slightly before managing to pull himself away from Esdeath before slamming his head at her, causing to grunt in pain as she slid back from the attack.

Natsu and Julia then both took a deep breath at the same time as Esdeath.

Erza widened her eyes. "Everybody, prepare to run!"

"Forget preparing," Lucy shouted, "I'm running!" She then immediately ran from the room. The others followed after her.

* * *

Outside the building, Lucy and the others sighed in exhaustion.

Lucy turned to the building in confusion. "So what n –?"

She was interrupted by a massive explosion from within the building.

"What the hell was that?!"

Juvia explained, "Three Dragon Roars connecting."

"Yikes…"

Natsu and Julia then suddenly came running out of the smoke.

Jade frowned in concern. "So they escaped…"

Suddenly, the smoke cleared as a huge tower of ice formed.

"Oh great, she's pissed. Meaning I have to make sure the soldiers stay away from her." With a groan, Jade turned to Natsu's group and growled, "I don't have time to deal with the lot of you. Get lost."

Almost immediately the group ran off, dragging an unwilling Natsu with them.

* * *

Some time later, the group were at Galein's house, eating a meal.

Natsu sat back with a small sigh. "Man that was an awesome fight…"

Lucy turned to him incredulously, "You're completely crazy…"

"Really?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Yes!" the others all shouted in unison.

Natsu pouted in disappointment. "But it was awesome! Even the tongue battle!"

Julia stiffened and crushed the glass in her hand. "Tongue battle?!"

Natsu tilted his head somewhat in bewilderment. "Yeah? What's wrong?"

Lucy sighed in exasperation. "Dense…"

Juvia pouted slightly. "Why is Natsu-Sama so dense…?"

"I am not sure…" Erza added in confusion.

"Too many blows to the head," Nazuna surmised.

Natsu shrugged in confusion and then turned to Galein. "Hey, Old Musica."

Galein turned to the pink-haired teen in thought. "Yeah? Wait, Old Musica?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah." He then pointed to Musica and explained, "He's Musica, you're Old Musica."

Musica and Galein sat silently for a moment.

Natsu looked between them curiously and continued, "Huh? Whatever, Old Musica, do you know anything about Rave or Decaforce?"

Galein sighed as he stroked his beard slowly. "I know a bit about Rave, but I'm the one who originally forged Decaforce."

Natsu blinked in surprise. "Wow, you're ooolllddd."

Erza knocked him on the head. "That is rude, Natsu."

Nazuna raised an eyebrow. "But he is."

Julia huffed lightly. "I don't wanna hear it. You're even older than he is."

"Eh?"

Galein sighed and turned to Natsu. "So what do you want to know?"

Natsu shrugged in response. "Everything helpful. Anything you know. A weird old man gave me Decaforce one day and Gray found Rave in a thrift shop. So we don't know anything about them. Except it makes awesome explosions!"

Galein sat back and stretched with a sigh. "Okay then, guess it's story time. Buckle up."

Elie tilted her head in confusion. "Buckle what?"

"Fifty years ago, the nation of Raregroove initiated a war with the nation of Symphonia. Their main tool was a powerful weapon called Dark Bring. In particular, a single, large Dark Bring called Sinclair."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Éclair?"

"Sinclair. A large, powerful, evil weapon. So the Symphonia kingdom made a weapon to counter it, the Raves. These Raves were given to a wielder called the Rave Master. I made a sword for him that utilized the Rave's power, called Decaforce."

"Who was the Rave Master?"

Galein remained silent for a moment and sighed. "… I don't know. I never met him. I was just told to make the weapon. The war ended when the Rave Master destroyed Sinclair. But Sinclair's destruction caused an event called Overdrive. An immense explosion that razed both kingdoms to the ground and scattered the Raves."

Kanami frowned lightly.

Erza nodded in understanding. "Master told us of that part."

Elie raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait, if the Rave Master destroyed the Dark Bring, how come there are more?"

Nazuna glanced to her lazily. "Isn't it obvious? The big stone blew up. Meaning not only where the Raves scattered but probable piece of that to"

Galein nodded in agreement. "The Dark Bring wasn't necessarily destroyed. It shattered, and was scattered throughout the world. And now the organization Demon Card is trying to use Dark Bring to control the world. Rave is the only weapon that can stop them."

"Pun, pun," Plue barked lightly.

"Wow," Natsu muttered before grinning and slamming his fists together. "That settles it."

Erza sighed before Gray grumbled, "Lovely…"

"I'll find the Raves and stop Demon Card! You can count on us!"

Juvia chuckled lightly. "Juvia saw this coming…"

Galein nodded with a smirk. "You can count on Plue to help you. He's the Rave Bearer."

"The what?" Lucy questioned.

"He can sense the Rave's location and through him you can use their power."

Natsu blinked in thought. "Huh? Cool!" He then picked up Plue in excitement. "So you're actually pretty powerful, huh little guy?"

"Puun, puun," Plue moaned.

"Then let's have a fight!"

Erza whacked his head lightly. "No."

"But he says he's strong!"

Lucy sighed and then put a hand on her chin in thought. "But… where do we start?"

"I have an idea," Bisca commented before tacking a map to the wall and then grabbing Plue and backing up.

Galein sighed and interjected, "I have a better idea," before taking Plue from the greenette. "I remember hearing about a place called Tremolo Mountain to the north. It's also called Rave Point, because of a star that fell and crashed in the mountain shortly after Overdrive."

Kanami immediately jumped up with a grin, her cleavage swaying with her. "Sounds like a plan!"

"Now there's no guarantee Rave is actually there, but it's a starting point."

Natsu grinned excitedly. "Right! Let's go!"

"Hold up," Gray interjected.

Natsu twitched an eyebrow. "For what?"

"It's gonna be a long trip to this place." He then pointed at the map and explained, "We're gonna need a ride, and there aren't any trains from here to there."

Natsu glanced at Julia who waved a hand dismissively. "I can't carry that many people that far."

Galein blinked in thought. "Oh, that reminds me." He then went into a closet and pulled out a large, old trunk. "This is a powerful motion sickness drug the original Rave Master used. He was… rather weak in the stomach, I suppose you could say."

"Really?!" Natsu shouted in excitement.

Galein nodded. "Yes. Now, I insist that you all stay the night before leaving. It's a long road to Tremolo Mountain, and you want to be rested before taking it."

"Okay!"

* * *

Later in the night, after the sun had fallen, Natsu walked up to Elie with mild worry. "You alright, Elie?"

Elie turned to him in light confusion. "H – Huh? Oh. Yeah."

"Sorry that I was so weak you were kidnapped."

Elie blinked in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Natsu frowned in frustration. "I wasn't strong enough, and because of it you got kidnapped by Lance."

Erza patted his head lightly. "You are being a fool. That is enough of this talk, Natsu."

"Huh?"

Lucy suddenly perked up in thought. "Ah! Hey, Natsu, if that didn't happen you wouldn't have fought that Esdeath woman."

Elie looked at her in confusion and then nodded in realization. "Y – Yeah! Plus I never got hurt."

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "Huh… true…"

"Yes, denasu," a new voice remarked. The others turned and saw a young woman with long, waist-length, wavy blonde hair, her bangs framing her face and extending to just above her generous bosom, her fringe swaying to the side above her dark blue eyes, wearing a short white dress with gold trim and gold buttons, short, puffed sleeves with gold cuffs, a black, shoulder-length arm band extending to her middle finger, covered in gold studs, a white hair band, and white, high-heeled shoes.

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed as she jumped to the side, seeing the blonde.

Natsu blinked in confusion and turned to the blonde. "Oh, hey Ophi."

Lucy blinked in bewilderment. "Ophi…?"

Natsu nodded. "Ophiuchus."

"HUH?!" Lucy exclaimed.

The blonde, Ophiuchus, nodded with a smirk. "That's me, denasu."

"YOU'RE THAT GIANT ROBO SNAKE?!"

Ophiuchus chuckled with a smirk. "That's just my combat form, denasu."

Julia sighed in annoyance. "I'm bored… hey, old man, ya got any booze?!"

Bisca paled in worry. "Oh no…"

Galein raised an eyebrow and reached into a closet. "Hm? Right –" he suddenly stopped as the bottle in his hand disappeared, "here…"

Erza was immediately guzzling down the drink.

Julia twitched an eyebrow and shouted, "Oy, Red! Gimme!"

Erza handed her the empty bottle.

Julia growled angrily.

"Uh-oh…" Lucy muttered.

Galein chuckled lightly. "It's okay, I got more." He then held up several bottles of liquor, Nazuna, Erza, and Julia immediately grabbing them all.

* * *

Lucy and the others groaned as Julia shouted happily, completely drunk. "Yahoo! You've got some pretty good booze old timer!"

"Not again…" Lucy mumbled.

Musica chuckled in amusement. "Man, she sure is energetic."

Julia stopped and glanced at Musica with a mildly annoyed expression. "What was that?"

"I said you were –" Musica began before Julia sent him flying to the ceiling.

"I heard ya the first time stupid!"

Musica, stuck to the ceiling, twitching, grumbled, "Th – Then why did you… ask…?"

Natsu sighed and Gray muttered, "It's best not to talk about her when drunk."

Galein laughed lightly. "She's almost as bad as Clea."

Erza raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Who?"

"One of the Four Knights of the Blue Sky. She was one of As - er, the Rave Master's traveling companions."

Erza narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I thought you said you never met the Rave Master."

Galein stiffened in concern. "I – I didn't. I just happened to meet the Knights in a bar once."

Nazuna huffed. "Sounds like a load of crap."

Erza nodded in agreement. "And you spoke about this Clea rather familiarly."

Galein gulped in worry. "Ah… well…"

Nazuna frowned in frustration. "Just tell the truth. Ashura was the Rave Master."

"Ah… yeah…"

"Knew it."

Natsu raised an eyebrow and turned to her. "Isn't that the guy you're all crazy about?"

Nazuna nodded. "He's a great guy."

Erza then grabbed Natsu by the scarf. "We are sharing a room tonight."

Galein interjected, "Just make sure ya clean up."

Erza smirked and retorted, "I do my best to keep it in."

The men in the room sighed as he walked away.

Musica then turned to Gray. "Please tell me they aren't _all_ his."

Gray remained silent.

"Lucky prick."

Gray sighed. "You should see the rest back home…"

"You can't be serious…"

"I wish I wasn't…"

"No way…"

Bisca raised an eyebrow curiously. "No way what?"

Musica stiffened and coughed into his hand. "Ahem! A – Ah… nothing."

Bisca frowned lightly. "Right… hey Julia, Hami said your drunk."

Julia growled in annoyance. "I swear to drunk I'm not god!" She then sent Musica flying with a punch.

Gray sighed lightly. "Better him than me."

Juvia remarked, "Julia. Gray said you look tipsy."

"Tip this!" Julia shouted before slamming Gray against the wall.

* * *

The door to the room flew open as Erza, her blood flowing with alcohol, threw Natsu in before closing the door roughly behind her.

Natsu chuckled lightly. "Guess you want more, don't you?" he challenged with a smirk.

Erza frowned lightly before her body was enveloped in light, the light dying down to reveal her body in full, breasts swaying freely with pink tips accentuated against her porcelain skin, her mound perfectly smooth with folds quivering slowly. "Yes. It's been days, I want more of that cock of yours," she demanded.

Natsu smirked lightly before easily removing his own clothing with one motion, his member standing tall and proud, ready for Erza's body. "Then come here, and I'll make sure you can't walk for days."

Erza made her way quickly to him, but no sooner did she reach him before he jumped up, grabbed her by the waist, threw her to the bed on her belly, and then positioned his dick at her hole.

"Here it comes!" Natsu shouted before thrusting forward, burying his length deep inside of her pussy.

Erza's eyes shot wide with a loud howl of pleasure as she felt Natsu's tool pierce her body, spreading her walls wide and deep in a flash.

Not waiting a moment longer, he began plunging back and forth with speed and power, burrowing in and out of her tunnel with force, hitting her cervix deep within at each blow. "You're so tight, you've been craving my cock this whole time, haven't you?"

Erza hissed as she felt his mast shift from side to side before lunging deep. "N – No I… I've not…!"

Natsu snickered before a hand reached forward to her swaying bosom, his fingers pinching on her stiff pink tips, causing a loud moan to escape her lips. "Then how come these are so hard?"

Erza hissed with arousal as her body tightened. "Y – You keep playing with them…!"

"Oh come on, they were hard before this," Natsu urged before squeezing his fingers tightly into her round globes, pressing them deeply, his fingers disappearing in the softness of her mounds.

Erza huffed and moaned as Natsu's cock burrowed deeper with more power, her insides being stirred and spun by his tool. "Y – Your dick is hitting me so deep…! It's breaking me in half!"

Natsu huffed and reached another hand forward, jamming two fingers into the redhead's mouth, her tongue suddenly gripping on them. "Listen to you, and you're supposed to be Titania!" His fingers slid back and forth across the soft, warm tissue, her lips wrapping tightly on his skin as his digits pressed, stirred, and squeezed her tongue.

Erza's voice vanished behind moans and huffs, the sounds of her hole being stirred by his cock and her mouth being played by his fingers the only other sounds in the room.

Natsu grinned as he began plunging his fingers back and forth through her lips, pinching and rolling her tongue between them. "Hehe, you're sucking on my fingers like they're lollipops. Any more and I could feel your throat." Not leaving time for her to even consider a response, he tightened his grip on her breast and her mouth before lifting her up, pressing her back against his chest, and began thrusting upward into her hole.

Erza's eyes began falling back as each plunge of Natsu's pole sent burst of pleasure through her body. ' _I – It's been so long… my whole body is… feeling weak…_ ' Heat flowing through her body, she felt his member begin to swell and curled her legs back around his torso.

"Here it comes!" Natsu shouted as he began thrusting with greater force.

' _Yes, yes!_ ' Erza shouted in her mind as her walls tightened, Natsu's hose plunging through the entrance to her womb, his fingers sinking further into her mouth, her lips and tongue grasping and swirling across his skin to savor the taste of his skin.

Natsu then immediately slammed himself as deep as he could, burying his member up to the base inside of Erza's pussy, the end entering her womb, before he released a powerful gush of fluid, his semen pouring out into her body.

Erza's eyes widened as he came. ' _H – His cream… it is filling my… my stomach… it's so warm…_ '

Several moments passed before Natsu released Erza, causing her to fall forward, off his shaft, covered in sweat and breathing with fatigue, her face reddened with lust.

She sighed before glancing back to him with a small smirk. "I believe you and I both know we won't be satisfied with just this," she remarked as his cum slowly dripped from her hole.

Natsu, his member still stiff, merely chuckled in amusement before grabbing her round bottom. "Alright then, I'll keep going." He then began kneading her soft buns in his fingers, squeezing and shifting them. "I think it's been a while since I've gone in this hole," he muttered before positioning his shaft at her flower. "So here I go," he announced before immediately plunging himself into her backside.

Erza immediately arched her back, hissing as the sensation shot through her body like electricity. "Y – You can't be so vigorous all of a sudden… I just came…"

Natsu grinned ferociously as he began slamming back and forth into her ass with great force before he slapped a hand hard against one of her cheeks, causing a loud moan to shoot from her lips. "You want me to slow down, huh? Did you forget what you said to me before?"

Erza attempted to respond, but her moans and hisses of ecstasy drowned out her voice. "I… I can't… hau!"

"You wanted me to continue using you. Or have you forgotten the role you cast yourself in?"

"H – Huh – hau!" she muttered as he began shifting his hips to the side along with his plunges.

"You said you want to be my cumdumpster, didn't you?" he said as he grasped both of her breasts tightly with his hands, sinking his fingers into the fleshy pillows. "You said you wanted me to give it all to you whenever I wanted, remember?"

Moaning in rhythm with his thrusts, she eked out, "I… I do…!"

"You're not going to go back on that now, are you?"

Erza released a hiss of pleasure as he continued plunging. "N – No… I won't…!"

Natsu grinned as he began slamming harder. "That's what I thought!"

Erza's breaths moaned in rhythm with his thrusts, sending bursts of heat through her body with each impact. "Y – You're hitting me… so deep…! It's stirring my insides!"

"Then I'll give you more!" Natsu howled as he began shifting side to side along with his thrusts, his member beginning to swell. "I hope you're ready, I've got more coming for you!"

Erza widened her eyes as Natsu's length burst in her, pumping more of his fluid into her. "Y – Yes…! I want more of it! It's so hot in my ass…"

Natsu's tool pulsated as it pumped more into Erza's body. The pumping of his member continued for several more seconds before he sighed and pulled from her flower, a small amount of cum slowly pouring out.

Erza breathed slowly as her body was coated with sweat. "I am so…" She glanced back and saw that Natsu's length was still standing tall.

"Hope you're not done yet," Natsu remarked.

Erza chuckled weakly. "I'm afraid I can't move on my own…"

Natsu smirked and moved Erza gently to the floor before situating himself on the edge of the bed. "I suppose I've only got one hole left, don't you think?"

Erza smiled before opening her mouth widely.

Natsu wasted nary a moment plunging his cock past her lips, feeling her soft, warm tongue glide over the bottom of his member as he moved her head back and forth. "Your mouth's soft and hot as always."

Erza's breaths, constrained to moans and huffs, passed over his tool as it moved to and fro in her mouth, inching further towards her throat with each push. Her tongue gleefully and greedily curled around it, tasting the mixed coating of his cum and her arousal on it, savoring the flavor. ' _I – It's so much hotter and thicker than usual… it's exquisite…_ '

Natsu chuckled as he continued lunging back and forth, his member disappearing further into Erza's mouth with each motion. "Hehe, you just love the taste of my dick, don't you? Here, I'll give you… more!" he grunted as he suddenly thrust deeply, surging past the back of her mouth and burying his tool down her throat.

She trembled as his meat filled her throat, spreading her neck as he renewed his motions. ' _I – It's so big! It's actually getting hard to breathe…!_ '

Natsu grunted as he continued pushing his dick deep into Erza's throat, the shape bulging in her neck, before her muscles tensed, gripping tightly around him. "Hehe, you really want it, don't you?" he noted with a smirk.

Erza trembled as his staff plunged in and out of her throat. ' _I… I think I'm going to pass out…_ '

"Hope you're ready, I've got more coming!" Natsu declared as his thrusts became harsher. He trembled as her breath passed over his length. "Guh, here… here it comes!" he shouted before grabbing the back of her head and thrusting forward, burying his cock deep in her throat.

Erza widened her eyes as the thick heat gushed into her throat. ' _Th – There's so much!_ ' She suddenly jerked back as her throat filled with his essence.

"Ah, wait!" Natsu urged as she lurched back, his release continuing, spraying and covering her in his thick cum.

Erza sat silently, trembling lightly as Natsu's cum covered her body, slowly pouring from her mouth.

Natsu blinked in thought and then smirked as he looked over her body. "Such a slutty Titania, but you're only mine," he declared softly before kissing her forehead.

* * *

Shortly later, Natsu sat at the end of the bed, smiling as he looked at the sleeping Erza. He then reached into his coat and pulled out Ophiuchus' key and flowed mana into it.

Suddenly, Ophiuchus appeared. "You rang, denasu?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah."

Ophiuchus glanced at Erza, noticing her cum-stained form, and then smirked before she turned to Natsu. "What do you need, denasu?"

"I need to ask you about one of the other Zodiac Spirits."

Ophiuchus raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Oh? Which one, denasu? Leo and her measurements, denasu?"

Natsu shook his head in response. "No. Aquarius."

"Ah."

"What's her problem? Why does she act so mean to everyone? She even threatened Lucy."

Ophiuchus sighed heavily. "She's a… complicated person, denasu."

"Then uncomplicate her so I can understand her."

Ophiuchus remained silent in thought for several moments. "Well for one, she wasn't actually born a Celestial Spirit, denasu."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Eh? What's that mean?"

Ophiuchus explained, "She was born a Mermaid, if you couldn't tell, denasu. But she was born with an almost immeasurable amount of mana, and it threatened to rip her body apart, denasu. So her parents made a prayer to Milla, denasu. This was around the time Milla was just forming the Zodiacs, roughly three hundred fifty years ago, denasu. So she turned the mermaid into Aquarius. Believe it or not, she was actually a hyperactive, fun-loving child, denasu."

"Wow…"

"Unfortunately, she was an unlucky one, denasu. On the whole, most Celestial Spirit Wizards are unremarkable, denasu. They use Celestial Spirits for menial tasks, completing jobs, and the like, denasu. Aquarius on the other hand often ended up with the worst of humanity as her Key Holder, denasu. People like Lance and Everlue, denasu. They did horrible things to her and made her do horrible things to others, denasu. Then she got her."

"Huh?"

"For several hundred years, she loathed humanity, denasu. But then one day, a certain woman found Aquarius' Key and became her new Key Holder, denasu. That woman was Layla Heartafillia, denasu. The woman was beautiful, kind, and graceful, denasu. She treated Aquarius like a close friend, a sister even, rather than a tool or a plaything, denasu. But eventually the woman died young and gave Aquarius' key to her daughter, denasu. Her daughter was the total opposite of her mother, denasu. Impatient, hyperactive, messy, needy, treating Aquarius like a pet, though meaning to treat her like a friend, denasu. She was, for a long time, the girl's only friend, and as a result the girl desired her attention greatly, denasu. Coming from having such an immeasurably wonderful Key Holder, after being passed around to so many awful ones, Aquarius wasn't quite ready or willing to handle one that was, arguably, normal, denasu."

Natsu frowned in frustration. "I see… that's why she doesn't like Lucy. It's because she isn't like her mom."

Ophiuchus shrugged lightly in response. "I can't say whether you're right or wrong, but I can say your intuition is good, denasu. Aquarius isn't truly a bad person, denasu. She's just scared."

Natsu merely sighed in response.

"She's scared Lucy will turn out like the others, denasu. So she's trying to make herself distinct from other Spirits so that Lucy understands she won't allow herself to be treated like a tool or a plaything, denasu. And due to the way humans treated her in the past, she only knows one way to make Lucy aware of this, denasu. Violence."

"Idiot… She's gotta stop that, though. If she doesn't something bad could happen."

Ophiuchus nodded in understanding. "She's worried that if she does, Lucy will start seeing her differently, denasu. So Lucy herself can't convince Aquarius to stop this, since Aquarius would be suspicious of her motives, denasu. Someone who doesn't stand to gain anything from Aquarius becoming more docile needs to convince her, denasu."

Natsu scratched his head in thought. "But what can I do?"

"If you come with me to the Spirit Realm, I'm sure you'll think of something, denasu."

Natsu folded his arms in consternation. "Maybe."

Almost immediately, the duo vanished in a flash of light.

* * *

Natsu and Ophiuchus appeared in the Spirit Realm.

Natsu looked around in thought. "Man, haven't been here in a while. Not since I got Leo."

Ophiuchus tapped his shoulder. "Come on, let's go find Aquarius, denasu. I'm sure Milla knows where she is, denasu."

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Okay then."

* * *

Natsu and Ophiuchus approached Maxwell, who sat playing with several small, glowing creatures. She turned to the duo in surprise. "Ah, Ophiuchus. Natsu. How can I help you?"

"Well…" Natsu muttered.

Ophiuchus explained, "We're looking for Aquarius, denasu."

Maxwell raised an eyebrow in thought. "Oh? Is something wrong with her?"

Natsu nodded in irritation. "Uumm… yeah! She's a total bi –!"

Ophiuchus slapped a large band aid over his mouth. "We just want to speak with her, denasu."

Maxwell hummed in thought. "Ah. I think she is talking with Undine."

Ophiuchus nodded in understanding. "Thank you." She then suddenly ripped the band aid off.

"Gah!" Natsu growled in pain. "What was that for?!"

* * *

Natsu and Ophiuchus later stood in front of an extremely large lake.

"This is Undine's place?" Natsu asked in thought.

Ophiuchus nodded in agreement. "Yes. I know the stone path in the middle isn't very wide but you don't need to worry, you'll be able to breathe under that water just fine, denasu."

"I see… Uh, you sure?"

Ophiuchus immediately pushed Natsu over the edge into the water.

Natsu growled in annoyance. "Not cool! Wait, I'm talking underwater… cool! Hello! Anyone home?"

Ophiuchus sighed.

"You don't need to shout," a new voice remarked.

Natsu turned and saw a tall, humanoid female with blue skin, long, knee-length blue hair that split into two long segments, and long bangs that reached down to her impressive bust, dark red eyes, dark blue lips, wearing teal pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves, holding a matching spear in her arms. "Uh, hey."

The woman smiled happily. "Good to meet you, I am Undine. You're Milla's new pet, aren't you?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? Pet?"

Undine laughed lightly. "Don't worry, it's just a joke. What do you need?"

"To see Aquarius."

Undine nodded in understanding as Ophiuchus entered the water. "This way."

* * *

The trio swam towards a small island with a hot spring in the center, Aquarius sat in its steam.

"Aahh…" Aquarius sighed in relief.

"Aquarius," Undine interjected, "you have visitors."

Aquarius turned with a small smile. "Oh? Who is it?" She then saw Natsu with the group and frowned immediately. "Oh. It's you."

Natsu frowned in confusion. "What? Somethin' on my face?"

Aquarius sighed as she stood, her fish-like tail replaced by human legs. "No, I just still remember the fact that you hit me."

Natsu huffed lightly. "I wouldn't have if you didn't threaten my friends. I take threats to them seriously."

"I have my reasons for that. Besides, I didn't use full force. If I had you'd have all been crushed."

"Oh? Like not wanting to be Lucy's friend and threating her with bodily harm?"

Aquarius snarled in annoyance. "Don't judge me. She's a human. They're all the same. I just need to make sure she knows her place."

"Oh? Sounds more like you just want your friend's daughter to die."

Aquarius widened her eyes angrily. "Watch your mouth, brat! You know nothing! Do you even realize how many times I've stuck my neck out for that girl?! Her father is a useless waste of space and I've had to fend off multiple attackers who tried to kill her or worse! I don't hate Lucy I just don't want to see her turn into a monster!" She then widened her eyes in realization before tightening her fists.

Natsu growled angrily. "That's it? _That's_ what you're afraid of?! Has Lucy _ever_ gave you any reason to believe she'd turn out like that?"

Aquarius folded her arms with a snarl. "Humans are proud and disgusting creatures. Lucy's arrogance has stayed as low as it is because of me. If I stopped, she could end up becoming like that Lilica woman. I'd hate to see Lucy end up twisted like that."

Natsu hissed and retorted, "If you keep the way your acting towards her she'll end up a twisted corpse! What would her mother think if she saw you, her best friend, treating her daughter this way?"

Aquarius growled as tears of frustration began forming in her eyes. "It's all I know how to do! I don't know any other way to do things! You think I enjoy hurting Lucy like that!? You think I don't know that Layla would hate me for it?! I don't know how else to do this! So I don't want to hear a lecture from you when you're not even twenty years old!"

"… You're pathetic."

Aquarius then immediately slapped him across the face. "Spend three hundred years being passed around as a toy for humans and _then_ try to say that to me."

"I'm not the one abusing a child to get back at the world! You could have tried raising her! Teach her right from wrong! Offer her guidance so she doesn't become a butch! Instead you make her terrified of you to the point she _fears_ summoning you!"

"My, my, so much shouting," Muzet noted as she floated down towards the group.

"Huh?"

Aquarius then urged coldly, "If you have nothing else to say, then leave."

Muzet interjected, "Aquarius, I think you need to help Natsu here understand your situation better. After all he is trying to help."

"He only wants to help the human girl."

"Because you're being rather forceful with her."

Aquarius folded her arms with a huff. "I'd rather she be afraid of me than feel like she owns me."

Natsu growled angrily. "And when she dies because you violently throw her with a water blast? Or is killed because she is too afraid of her supposed guardian to summon her?"

Ophiuchus then raised a hand. "Idea, denasu."

Everyone turned to her.

"How about Natsu helps Aquarius learn to treat people nicer, denasu?"

Muzet smiled and nodded. "That sounds good. We could even send Aquarius back with him as well."

Aquarius looked at Natsu, then Ophiuchus, and then pointed at Natsu in confusion. "… Him?"

Ophiuchus smiled and nodded. "Yep!"

"And how can _he_ help?"

"Get your head on straight, denasu."

Aquarius looked at Natsu in thought. "Be that as it may, how can he help me prevent Lucy from giving in to those instincts all humans seem prone to?"

Ophiuchus smirked and replied, "He's able to bring out the best in women, denasu."

"… Fine, I'll give him a chance. Let's say I agree and start treating her nicer. What's to stop her from doing what all of the others have?"

Natsu retorted, "Her desire to be your friend."

"What'd you say?"

"Her desire to be your friend. I mean, have any of her other Spirits complained about her?"

Aquarius flinched in shock. "She… wants to be my friend?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, more than anything."

Aquarius tightened her fists angrily. "How can I trust you're telling the truth?"

"If you think I'm lying you can kill me now. Doesn't really affect me how you two treat each other." With a happy grin he added, "I just like to see people get along."

Aquarius widened her eyes before tightening her fists. "If she even thinks of trying something, it'll be your head."

Natsu nodded in return. "If she does you can take it."

Aquarius frowned in confusion. "You're really willing to stake your life just to see us get along?"

Natsu nodded once more. "A Spirit and their Key Holder are like family." He then grinned widely. "And family shouldn't fight."

Aquarius widened her eyes and then chuckled loudly.

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"You… remind me of her. That's what she always said."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Lucy?"

Aquarius shook her head in response. "No… her mother…"

Natsu flinched in bewilderment. "… Uh… thanks? I think."

* * *

Shortly later, Natsu sighed as he returned to the human world.

"Natsu," Erza, still completely nude, suddenly stated.

Natsu turned to her in surprise. "Yeah, Erza?"

"Where were you?"

"I, uh, had something to handle in the Spirit Realm. Helping a friend."

"I see."

"So… what'd I miss?"

Erza shook her head in response. "Nothing."

"Ah. Sorry I kept you waiting."

Erza merely smiled before gently wrapping her arms around him. "It is alright."

He chuckled and patted her head softly. "Wonder what everyone would think if they saw us like this."

Erza smiled proudly. "Let them see. I do not care." She then pressed her lips against his firmly.

* * *

Later in the night, Musica looked at the door to Galein's room before leaving the building.

* * *

As Musica began to leave, Natsu suddenly demanded, "Hold it."

Musica stopped and turned to him. "Huh? What?"

Natsu frowned in annoyance. "Where are you going Musica? You know that old guy, don't you? So why are you leaving? Come on, Musica, spill it. You guys even have the same name."

Musica sighed before retorting, "How should I know?"

"Don't play dumb. Even I can tell you two are related. He your dad? Granddad? Uncle?"

"What's it to you? So what if he is?"

"Family is family. Simple as that. And family should never turn their backs on one another. And you're just going to leave without telling anyone? You both thought you were alone but you're not! Your family and family should stick together."

"Are you really sure about that?"

"Huh? Well, a dragon's nose knows. As does a dragon's eye."

Musica frowned in annoyance. "Is that blacksmith really my grandfather?"

"Who knows? But isn't it worth getting to know each other just in case? If you don't at least try though you'll only have regret."

"No way. Even if he is my real grandfather, he'd never say it."

"Why do you think that!?"

"Because his grandson, his only family, is little more than a good-for-nothing street punk. He'd be ashamed of my thievery."

Natsu growled in frustration. "Yeah right! He thought his whole family was dead! He'd be thrilled to know one of 'em's alive!"

Musica blinked and then smirked in mild amusement. "You're kind of goofy kid, but you're not so bad. Still, I've got another reason to shove off. If I told him I'm his grandson it'd burden him with new responsibilities, and I'd be tied down too. I just can't live like that. Besides, there's something I have to do. Something only I can do. It's better this way."

Natsu frowned incredulously. "No you wouldn't. Just letting him know is probably enough. "Besides, what is it? Try and fail at getting girls?"

Musica shook his head in reply. "No. There's a weapon out there, a weapon called Silver Ray. I'm going to find it and destroy it."

Bisca, hiding nearby, listening to the conversation, stiffened in shock.

"Why bother anyway? We'd probably end up going our separate ways eventually. He's gone all this time thinking his family's dead. Maybe it's better this way."

Natsu growled in frustration. "Is it better to go on living, knowing you have nothing to live for? I don't understand! Is it really that hard to tell him!? 'I'm alive,' that's all you have to say! He's your only family! And family is the only thing that matters!"

"Man you two are loud," Galein muttered as he walked up to the duo.

Natsu stiffened and turned to him. "Huh? Old Musica!"

* * *

 **And cut! That brings the twelfth chapter of Embodiment of Flame to an end. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it. If you did, be sure to post a review. If you were confused, unsure, or had any questions about anything, be sure to post a review letting me know and I will address your concerns in a reviewer response. If you did not enjoy the chapter... sorry? Post a review if you must but might I suggest finding something you enjoy instead? At any rate, until the next chapter, bye-bye!**


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